Bartolomeo Pietromarchi – författare

Half a century after Pasolini’s death, his legacy still pervades the diverse creative fields in which he worked; he remains a source of inspiration for filmmakers today.Pier Paolo Pasolini was an intellectual with a painfully lucid view of his time, acutely aware of the rise of consumerist society. Although Pasolini considered himself primarily as a writer, he was best known through his film repertoire. Cinema provided a sounding board for his political ideas, which also played a central role in his written work. Pasolini’s pluralistic approach combined poems, novels, essays, political statements, and films to create a cohesive message.This book, and the exhibition it accompanies, demonstrates how the aesthetics of the writer-director’s films were developed and influenced through the prism of classical and contemporary art with film clips juxtaposed alongside paintings by Pontormo, Pieter Claesz, Giorgio Morandi, Fernand Léger, and Francis Bacon. It retraces Pasolini’s formative years studying art history at the University of Bologna under the guidance of Roberto Longhi. In his films, Pasolini reappropriated classical paintings in three ways: reproducing them as “living paintings” (The Deposition of Pontormo in La Ricotta); referencing them by reworking their composition or evoking striking details (Caravaggio’s Sick Young Bacchus in Accatone); or including them on set (Juan Gris’s Nature morte devant une fenêtre ouverte in Salo). To complete the book, works by thirty contemporary artists such as John Waters, Jenny Holzer, William Kentridge, Tom Burr, Marlene Dumas, Ernest Pignon-Ernest, Giovanni Fontana, and more demonstrate Pasolini’s lasting influence on the art world.This book accompanies an exhibition held at the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco from March 29 to September 29, 2024.

A tour through the dazzling Futurist Gesamtkunstwerk that was Giacomo Balla's home and creative laboratory Recently opened to the public for the first time, the home of the Futurist artist Giacomo Balla (1871–1958) is depicted and inventoried in this extraordinary book. The apartment in Rome in which Balla lived with his family for over 30 years was covered with lively murals, painted furniture, decorated utensils and clothes, as well as preparatory drawings, stage designs, toys and other works by the artist, together with paintings by his two daughters Luce and Elica. The numerous paintings by Balla kept in the apartment range from his early figurative period to the Futurist aesthetics of the 1910s and ’20s and a return to representation in the latter part of his life. Together they create a kaleidoscopic example of total design, reflecting the indissoluble link between art and life that lay at the root of Futurist thinking.

A handbook on contemporary Italian artThis lavishly illustrated publication charts the history of Italian art over the last several decades, with a focus on iconic works by artists including Carla Accardi, Jannis Kounellis, Mario Schifano, Luigi Ghirri and Anna Maria Maiolino from the MAXXI collection in Rome.

This volume is one of three companion catalogues to an exhibition taking place simultaneously at three venues in Rome on the large-scale projects of Pier Paolo Pasolini. They explore a theme dear to Pasolini — sacredness — with a multidisciplinary approach that will shed a light on his main characteristics as a poet, writer, director, and artist and on the cultural influence he wielded. This is the catalogue for the exhibition at Fondazione MAXXI, which explores the many facets of Pasolini’s political engagement. Texts, images, movies, notes, and documents will narrate the beginning of a protest that has endured to this day, with interpretations of Pasolini’s work is seen through the voices of contemporary artists.An essay by Anne Violaine Houcke analyses Pasolini’s final period, while Ara Merjan’s text explores his aesthetics. Marco Belpoliti explores the 1975 timeline, giving special attention to the political events most closely connected to Pasolini.Incudes contributions by Eleonora Cardinale, Roberto Chiesi, Silvia De Laude, Fabio Francione, Giuseppe Garrera, and Vincenzo Trione.Text in English and Italian.

Italian artist Enzo Cucchi (b. 1949), is one of the pioneers of the 20th century trans avant-garde art movement, and was part of a wider international movement of Neo-Expressionist painters. Today he is considered one of Italy’s most productive and innovative artists, and has become a model for the younger generation. His work is notable for its vibrant colour, figuration, and symbolism, with signs, symbols, mixed media, and words which meld into a powerful new aesthetic. His work is presented here in thematic chapters, and includes his ceramics, small bronze figurines, drawings, paintings, and artist books. This volume accompanies the exhibition Enzo Cucchi: The Poet and the Magician that will be held between May and November 2023 at MAXXI in Rome.Text in English and Italian.