Franca Maranò: Forgotten Pioneer of Textile Art
Franca Maranò (Bari, 1920–2015) emerged as a textile art innovator in the 1970s, alongside notable figures such as Maria Lai, Rosemarie Trockel, and Yoko Ono. Initially, she focused on abstract painting in the early 1960s, with Marcello Venturoli noting in 1964 that her work featured "geometric figures not yet well identified within space." In 1970, she co-established the Centrosei gallery in Bari, dedicated to avant-garde art and female artists. Between 1971 and 1985, Maranò presented nine solo exhibitions at Centrosei. Her "Cucito" series examined the intersection of art and reality, while "Abiti Mentali" emerged from performances in 1977. Her pieces were featured in K 18 – Stoffwechsel (1982) and Testi Tessili (1983). Anna Gambatesa organized her first retrospective in 2017, and the Maranò archive is accessible online.
Key facts
- Franca Maranò was born in Bari in 1920 and died in 2015.
- She was a pioneer of textile art in the 1970s alongside Maria Lai, Rosemarie Trockel, and Yoko Ono.
- Her early abstract paintings were described by Marcello Venturoli in 1964.
- In 1970, she co-founded the Centrosei gallery in Bari with five other artists.
- Centrosei presented Sol LeWitt, Luigi Ontani, Pier Paolo Calzolari, and Joseph Beuys.
- Maranò opened Centrosei to women artists including Mirella Bentivoglio and Ketty La Rocca.
- She created the 'Cucito' cycle of stitched abstract works on canvas.
- Her 'Abiti Mentali' were wearable works used in performances from 1977.
- Her work was shown at K 18 – Stoffwechsel in Kassel (1982) and Testi Tessili in Rome and Milan (1983).
- The first retrospective was held at Misia Arte in Bari in 2017, curated by Anna Gambatesa.
Entities
Artists
- Franca Maranò
- Maria Lai
- Rosemarie Trockel
- Yoko Ono
- Giuseppe Capogrossi
- Carla Accardi
- Marcello Venturoli
- Umberto Baldassarre
- Mimmo Conenna
- Sergio Da Molin
- Michele Depalma
- Vitantonio Russo
- Sol LeWitt
- Luigi Ontani
- Pier Paolo Calzolari
- Joseph Beuys
- Giorgio Ciam
- Giorgio Colombo
- Plinio Martelli
- Franco Summa
- Mirella Bentivoglio
- Lucia Romualdi
- Tomaso Binga
- Simona Weller
- Renata Boero
- Ketty La Rocca
- Christine Farese Sperken
- Anna Gambatesa
- Ludovico Pratesi
Institutions
- Centrosei
- Misia Arte
- Add editore
- Documenta
- Artribune
Locations
- Bari
- Italy
- Milan
- Rome
- Kassel
- Germany