Arte Povera
5 articles
Arte Povera means impoverished or poor art in Italian. It was one of Southern Europe’s most influential and significant avant-garde movements in the 1960s. It encompassed the work of scores of Italian artists.
The distinguishing characteristic of their work is the extensive use of cheap or “poor person’s” materials like rope, paper, rags, rocks, and soil to take the viewer to the pre-industrial age.
Arte Povera’s practices were meant to challenge the established idea of propriety, value, and material wealth. Through their artworks, they echoed their opposition to the 1960s widespread mechanization, modernism, and industrialization. Artists of this movement shied away from painting in favor of sculptures.
Michelangelo Pistoletto ranks as one of the most eminent artists of modern times. He was born in 1933 in the little Italian town of Biella. Since then, he has excelled as an artist. His works have redefined conceptual art. He has also played a leading role in furthering the popularity of Arte Povera. One of […]
Michelangelo Pistoletto’s labyrinth at the Serpentine Gallery Read More
It’s possible to create a piece of remarkable art from just about anything. If you doubt that, then you have probably not encountered Repetition Nineteen III by Eva Hesse. In it, Hesse brings 19 translucent forms to life. Each bucket-like form is roughly 20 inches in height. If you ever wanted to see a perfect
Why did Eva Hesse create her Repetition Nineteen III? Read More
“It would be nice to be two people – one all aware and real, the other all dreamy and unconscious – who go hand in hand, without ever mingling,” – Alighiero Boetti. Childhood Alighiero Boetti was a prominent Italian Conceptual artist and Arte Povera movement member. As he grew up in Turin, Italy, where he
Alighiero Boetti’s Arazzi – Tapestry made in Pashtunistan Read More
Born in 1933 in Biella, Italy, Michelangelo Pistoletto’s was among the first interpreters of the radical renewal of artistic language, both socially and aesthetically, in the early 1960s. He was also one of the protagonists of Arte Povera. Pistoletto began to gain recognition in the mid-1950s, particularly after creating his first Quadri specchianti (Mirror Paintings)
Michelangelo Pistoletto’s nude Venus inspects a rag of clothes (sfw) Read More
The Mappa tapestries are some of the most important works by Alighiero Boetti. Upon his first arrival in Afghanistan in 1971, Boetti began a continuous collaboration with local weavers to produce embroidered tapestries, using himself only as the referential artist but considering the works a creation of a combined effort. Boetti used simple and mostly
Alighiero Boetti’s beautiful Maps of the World Read More
