Biblioteca Braidense, Sala Maria Teresa, Milano
For about ten years, starting in 1973, Francesco Somaini replaced his sculptor’s tools with photographic paper to make his battle against the decay of cities and regions under the pressure of rampant industrialization and the mirroring gentrification of
historic villages more incisive and persuasive.
“Photomontage,” he argued, “has a power of impact on the public that derives from photography and from the assumption of truth that, in popular opinion, surrounds photography itself. Therefore, the manipulation that affects this credibility acquires a stronger provocative value.”
With this conviction, he applied himself to practicing the art of photomontage in the American metropolis par excellence, New York, and in Italian cities of art, such as Mantua and Venice: a complex journey that concluded in 1979 with the extraordinary “counter-projects” for Duisburg, of which particularly significant unpublished drawings are on display in the exhibition and documented here.
The exhibition, curated by Fulvio Irace in collaboration with the Somaini Foundation, aims to re-propose the Somaini “question” to an audience that, half a century later, has the tools and sensitivity refined to understand his visions from an environmentalist perspective that reclaims space for Nature in non-stereotypical and innovative formulas.
The exhibition, held in the Sala Teresiana of the Braidense Library, is part of a trilogy of exhibitions curated by Fulvio Irace, exploring the various aspects of a major creative period undertaken by Somaini in the 1970s and marked by a profound reflection on the relationship between sculpture, architecture, the city, and the environment. The next two will be held this fall, also in Milan: Giardini inquieti at the CASVA, Center for Advanced Studies in the Visual Arts, and Corpo Urbano at the Somaini ETS Foundation.
Over one hundred works are on display, including drawings, photographs, photocollages, and photomontages from the artist’s archive, created between 1970 and 1979. Reference volumes and catalogues are also on display.
Catalog published by Silvana Editoriale.
Opening hours:
Monday: 9.30 a.m. – 6 p.m. (access only from the Library, last entry 5.30 p.m.)
From Tuesday to Friday: 9.30 a.m. – 6 p.m. (last entry 5.30 p.m.)
Saturday: 9.30 a.m. – 1.30 p.m. (last entry 1 p.m.)
Ticket:
Free admission without reservations
Address:
Pinacoteca di Brera – Biblioteca Braidense, Sala Maria Teresa
via Brera 28, Milano