Arte Ribelle: Milano Exhibition Revisits Political Art from 1968-1978

Curated by Marco Meneguzzo, the exhibition 'Arte Ribelle' at Le Stelline in Milan focuses exclusively on artists who developed a political or ideological visual language between 1968 and 1978, deliberately excluding movements like Arte Povera and artists such as Enrico Castellani. The show is structured around three distinct groups: the first includes painters like Paolo Baratella who updated traditional techniques with pop influences; the second encompasses conceptual artists such as Gianni Emilio Simonetti (using comics like Tex Willer to discuss Marx and Feuerbach), Vincenzo Agnetti (political aphorisms in frame format), Emilio Isgrò (erasures), Ugo La Pietra, and Gianfranco Barucchello; the third features self-managed drawing from fanzines like Re Nudo, Fallo!, Robin Hood, Get Ready, and Pianeta Fresco, with notable works by Matteo Guarnaccia and Chilean Pablo Echaurren, who drew for Lotta Continua. A small section is dedicated to cinema, with works by Fernando De Filippi (known for street banners), Ugo La Pietra, and Mario Schifano, who befriended Jean-Luc Godard. Meneguzzo assembled works and documents that hold little interest for today's art market, sourced from collectors and artists' archives.