Luca Maria Patella: A Multidisciplinary Artist Beyond Conformity
Luca Maria Patella (1934–2023) was an Italian artist who defied categorization, blending psychoanalysis, science, semiotics, and performance across media including photography, video, writing, and installation. He rejected market-driven art, exemplified by his Vasa Physio-nomica (early 1980s) portrait vases, which he abandoned to publish a psychoanalytic essay on Diderot in 1984. His 1968 film SKMP2 featured Sargentini, Kounellis, Mattiacci, and Pascali. In 1967, his film Terre Animate anticipated land art, using performative measurement akin to Piero Manzoni. His 1971 interactive installation Alberi Parlanti e profumati spoke poetry and philosophy. Patella's work, including the 1966 Dice A portrait of his wife Rosa Foschi, challenged perception. He coined the phrase 'art is scientific-fantastic research of psychological action.' Critic Alberto Fiz wrote this retrospective for Artribune.
Key facts
- Luca Maria Patella rejected market conformity, abandoning his Vasa Physio-nomica portrait vases.
- In 1984, he published 'Jacques Le fataliste comme Autoencyclopédie', a psychoanalytic essay on Denis Diderot.
- His 1968 film SKMP2 featured Sargentini, Kounellis, Mattiacci, and Pascali.
- Terre Animate (1967) anticipated land art with performative measurement.
- Alberi Parlanti e profumati (1971) was an early interactive installation.
- Dice A (1966) is a photographic portrait of his wife Rosa Foschi.
- Patella described art as 'scientific-fantastic research of psychological action.'
- Alberto Fiz authored the retrospective on Artribune.
Entities
Artists
- Luca Maria Patella
- Marcel Duchamp
- Denis Diderot
- Pino Pascali
- Jannis Kounellis
- Eliseo Mattiacci
- Piero Manzoni
- Rosa Foschi
- Alberto Fiz
- Evergon
- Arthur Rimbaud
- Zygmunt Bauman
- Fabio Sargentini
- Luigi Patella
- Ernst Bernhard
Institutions
- Artribune
- FMAV Fondazione Modena Arte Visive
- Archivio Casa Morra
- Istituto Centrale per la Grafica
- Galleria L'Attico
- Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
- MoMA New York
- Galleria Nazionale (Rome)
- MACRO (Rome)
- Fondazione Morra
- Calcografia Nazionale (Rome)
- Museu de Arte Contemporâneo de São Paulo
- Palais des Beaux-Arts Brussels
- MOCA Los Angeles
- Palazzo delle Esposizioni (Rome)
- Biennale del Cinema
- Premio Pascali
Locations
- Rome
- Italy
- Modena
- Palazzina dei Giardini
- United States
- Amsterdam
- Netherlands
- New York
- São Paulo
- Brazil
- Brussels
- Belgium
- Los Angeles