Clemen Parrocchetti's Feminist Retrospective Opens in Florence

A major exhibition of Clemen Parrocchetti (1923–2016), titled 'Ironia ribelle,' has opened at Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence, curated by Stefania Rispoli and Marco Scotini. The show spans the Milanese artist's career, highlighting her pioneering feminist and environmental themes. Parrocchetti's work subverts traditional female roles through media including painting, soft sculptures, and textiles, often incorporating domestic tools and body imagery. The exhibition features series such as 'Amore e divorazione' (1969) and 'Lamento del sesso' (1978), the latter anticipating Louise Bourgeois's soft sculptures. Parrocchetti engaged with feminist movements like Lotta Femminista di Padova and the Gruppo Immagine di Varese, and her work addresses women's subalternity, domestic labor, and bodily emancipation. Later works link female and animal bodies in an intersectional critique of patriarchal power. The exhibition is promoted by Museo Novecento Firenze under artistic director Sergio Risaliti, continuing the museum's focus on female masters like Bourgeois, Marion Baruch, Jenny Saville, and Cecily Brown.