Gino Di Maggio: First Retrospective at Les Abattoirs in Toulouse

Les Abattoirs in Toulouse presents 'Viva Gino! Une vie dans l'art', the first-ever exhibition dedicated to Italian collector Gino Di Maggio (born 1940, Novara di Sicilia), running until August 30, 2020. Di Maggio, who describes his holdings not as a collection but as an accidental accumulation, founded Mudima in Milan in 1989, the first Italian foundation for contemporary art, conceived as a non-commercial space for artistic research. The exhibition features about fifty artists including Yoko Ono, César, John Cage, Kazuo Shiraga, Lee Ufan, Robert Filliou, Daniel Spoerri, and Ben Vautier, spanning movements from Futurism and Fluxus to Nouveau Réalisme, Mono-ha, Gutai, and Italian Kinetic Art. A special section highlights Italian artists supported by Mudima, such as Gianni Bertini, Sergio Lombardo, Renato Mambor, and Fausta Squatriti. The show also emphasizes Di Maggio's role in organizing the Gutai artists' exhibitions at the Venice Biennale in 1993 with curator Achille Bonito Oliva. Di Maggio notes that Italian journalists rarely interview him, contrasting with French interest. He is planning a new project in Sicily titled 'Una nuova maniera di vivere'.