Vasco Bendini. Ombre prime

Catalogue of the exhibition dedicated by La Galleria Nazionale di Roma to Vasco Bendini on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth, which opened in March 2022. The volume accompanies the discovery of the career of one of the major artists of the second half of the Italian 20th century, from his early training with Giorgio Morandi, up to the great Roman solo exhibitions and the Biennales of his maturity. The work of Vasco Bendini, dear to critics such as Francesco Arcangeli and Maurizio Calvesi, opens in the immediate postwar period, following an informal language in search of the volto as a universal archetype, to then focus on gesture and matter, under the influence of, among others, Jean Fautrier. The 1960s are characterised by the inclusion in the paintings of heterogeneous objects and materials, in an approach to Arte Povera and then, with actions and installations, to the Neodada way of doing things. The central objective for Bendini remains in fact the involvement of the viewer, in a fruitful dialogue necessary for the development of his poetics. A large selection of archival photos, along with essays and alleri productions of the works, is flanked by a critical anthology and unpublished writings by the Master. Text in English and Italian. AUTHOR: Bruno Cora is one of the most renowned critics of contemporary art. In 1971, after moving to Rome in the Sixties, he worked with Achille Bonito Oliva in the organisation of historical initiatives such as the exhibition Contemporanea. From then, an intense experience of "travel companionship" began between many artists that gained fame in the area of Arte Povera and their behaviour. From his critical militancy and creation of exhibitions began his ascent to the direction of public structures such as the Palazzo Fabroni in Pistoia, the Pecci Museum in Prato, and the CAMEC (Centro d'arte moderna e contemporanea) in La Spezia. An intense writing activity (monographs on artists and texts for innumerable exhibitions) led him to be the chair of Contemporary Art History at the University of Cassino. Today he is the president of the Fondazione Burri. SELLING POINTS: . Contemporary Italian artists . Artistic and expressive research . Accompanied by a rich apparatus of significant archive images 100 colour, 30 b/w illustrations