Magazzino Italian Art presented a four-part lecture series Arte Povera: Artistic Tradition and Transatlantic Dialogue curated by 2022-23 Magazzino Scholar-in-Residence Dr. Roberta Minnucci.
In the second lecture, Casting the Past: Arte Povera and Classical Sculpture, Dr. Roberta Minnucci, Magazzino Italian Art 2022-23 Scholar-in-Residence, examined a number of Arte Povera artists who produced experimental reinterpretations of classical statuary during the 1960s and 1970s.
Jannis Kounellis, Giulio Paolini and Michelangelo Pistoletto, in particular, explored the history of Western sculpture by challenging the traditional dichotomy between original and copy. They presented replicas of classical sculptures in the form of fragments or in multiple copies, often juxtaposed with mundane elements. In these years, characterized by the dematerialization of the art object and by post-minimalist practices that explored unconventional materials and adopted a new approach to abstraction, why did these Italian artists look back to the classical past, engaging with sculptural materiality and figuration?
This lecture investigated how classical art was appropriated among the Arte Povera artists and channeled into the domain of contemporary art, examining the reception of antiquity through its later revivals – namely the Renaissance and Neoclassicism – in relation to the coexistence of different temporalities within the artwork.
By questioning the linear narrative of art historical development, these artists presented a new conception of the avant-garde that capitalized on the creative potential of the past. In recovering the materiality and iconography of ancient Western sculpture, they reclaimed classical antiquity as a shared European cultural heritage, setting a foundation for their own artistic identity.
About Dr. Roberta Minnucci
Dr. Roberta Minnucci is an art historian and curator specializing in postwar Italian art. She has obtained her PhD from the University of Nottingham with a thesis which examined Arte Povera’s engagement with cultural memory. Prior to joining Magazzino Italian Art as the current Scholar-in-Residence, Dr. Minnucci was a Rome Award holder at the British School at Rome and the recipient of the first edition of the “Researching and Rewriting Contemporary Art History" Scholarship promoted by Fondazione Baruchello. Her research has been supported by the Getty Foundation, the Association for Art History, the Association for the Study of Modern Italy, and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Her articles and essays have been published in peer-reviewed academic journals and exhibition catalogues. She has gained curatorial and research experience at different institutions including: Tate Modern, Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, Christie’s, Southampton City Art Gallery, Castello di Rivoli and Museo Fondazione Pino Pascali.
