Archivio Scanavino Opens New Milan Space with Ceramics Focus

On the centenary of Emilio Scanavino's birth, the Archivio Scanavino has relocated from Piazzale Aquileia to Piazza Aspromonte 17 in Milan, inaugurating with the exhibition "Emilio Scanavino. This is tomorrow" (April 1–June 20, 2022). Curated by Marco Scotini, the show presents 60 works—including glazed or engobed terracottas, maiolicas, and metal objects—produced between the early 1950s and late 1960s, highlighting Scanavino's lesser-known applied arts and design side. The title references the seminal 1956 exhibition at London's Whitechapel Art Gallery curated by Bryan Robertson, which Scanavino documented through photographs also on display. The new 320-square-meter space, designed by architect Mariano Pichler, occupies a converted photocolor laboratory in an eclectic 1920s building overlooking a square donated to the city by the Fratelli Ingegnoli. It houses archive offices, a large exhibition hall, and a technical conservation lab. Scientific director Greta Petese noted the goal of revealing underexplored aspects of the artist's research, while Scotini emphasized the traumatic postwar context behind Scanavino's "Simboli Trovati"—terracotta sculptures imprinted with leaves, zippers, fabrics, or his own fist.