How Evil Is Pop Art? European Pop at MASI Lugano

The exhibition 'How evil is Pop Art?' at Spazio -1 in Lugano, part of MASI and the Giancarlo and Danna Olgiati Collection, explores European Pop art—often more artisanal and restrained than its American counterpart. Curated from the Olgiati Collection and an anonymous private collection, the show features early works by artists such as Allen Jones, Konrad Lueg, Pauline Boty, Peter Phillips, Tano Festa, Mario Schifano, and others. Highlights include Jones's 'autobus squadernato' (1962), Lueg's 'Cassius Clay', Boty's 'It’s a men’s world', and a sewing machine by Konrad Klapheck linking Pop to Surrealism. The exhibition also includes tangential figures like Gianfranco Baruchello, Fabio Mauri, and Michelangelo Pistoletto, and extends into the permanent Olgiati Collection with contemporary additions. The show argues that Pop's critical mimicry of consumerism remains relevant today.