Giancarlo Politi, founder of Flash Art, remembered as poet and provocateur

Sergio Risaliti, director of Museo Novecento in Florence, recalls Giancarlo Politi, who founded Flash Art and died recently. Politi started his career with Art Diary, a pre-internet directory of the art world. He combined a poetic sensibility with entrepreneurial drive, aiming to provincialize the Italian art scene by introducing international trends. Alongside Helena Kontova, he built Flash Art into a global platform. Risaliti worked at Flash Art's Milan office for two years before leaving, disillusioned with the cynicism and commercialism of the international art world. He later read Politi's 'Amarcord' memoirs and felt the poet had overtaken the provocateur. Risaliti credits Flash Art with informing generations of artists, critics, and curators before the internet. The magazine has since been passed to Gea Politi and Cristiano Seganfreddo, who are transforming it for a changed world. Risaliti hopes the students may surpass the master, as Politi would have wished.