Franco Guerzoni's Archaeological Poetics at Museo del Novecento

The Museo del Novecento in Milan hosts a retrospective of Franco Guerzoni (born 1948, Modena), spanning over forty years of his work. The exhibition, located in the museum's fourth-floor temporary galleries, opens with large panels, scagliola slabs, photographs, and fragments that immediately reflect Guerzoni's persistent exploration of time and archaeology. Key works include 'Affreschi' (1972), a plastered scagliola slab with a photograph of an urban cross-section, and pieces from his travels with photographer Luigi Ghirri through the Po Valley (Modena, Mantua, Reggio Emilia), documenting demolished buildings and layered plaster. The show's heart is in the library, where a display case contains photographs, drawings, collages, and projects Guerzoni calls 'Irrisolti' (unresolved), born from late-1960s to early-1970s avant-garde and political influences. The series 'Intravedere' is exhibited for the first time, featuring miniature plaster rooms with images that require the viewer to rotate their head to perceive hidden enigmas. Guerzoni's poetics centers on archaeology, restoration, and inner experience, rejecting scientific archaeology in favor of an anthropological approach to human traces, as stated in his 1973 book 'Archeologia'.