Carlo Maria Mariani's Dissident Art at Temple University Rome

A distinctive exhibition at Temple University in Rome spotlights Carlo Maria Mariani (1931–2021), the Italian artist who defined himself as a hybrid of artist and art historian. The show is curated by Antonio Martino, who also owns the works on display, creating a symmetrical bond of friendship. Mariani, who self-exiled to New York, is presented as a dissident figure marginalized by official art circuits. The exhibition includes works by Paolini, Ontani, Salvo, and De Dominicis as satellites around Mariani's central practice. The installation aims to reconnect contemporary art with its painterly roots, provoking the art world's exhibition criteria. Martino organized the show with Lorenzo Canova and artist Nicola Verlato, who contributed a black-and-white canvas blending sculptural myth and contemporary destruction. Works like 'Minerva' and 'Dove sei? Oh dove sei?' critique economic power and cultural complacency, while 'A morte il Tiranno' references a lost David painting. Mariani's intellectual art, echoing references from Piero della Francesca to Watteau and Raphael, offers vibrant, layered imagery that enriches viewers.