Luisa Gardini Retrospective in Bologna Explores Informal Art

A dense retrospective of Luisa Gardini (Ravenna, 1935) is hosted at Fondazione del Monte di Bologna until March 8, 2025. Titled 'La stessa voce ma non lo stesso canto' and curated by Cecilia Canziani and Ilaria Gianni, the exhibition honors the artist's five-decade practice bridging painting and sculpture. Gardini, active since the late 1950s, studied at Liceo artistico di Ravenna and Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma under Toti Scialoja, influenced by American art, Arshile Gorky, Jasper Johns, and Jackson Pollock's Action Painting. The show begins with two 1958 works on paper exploring primordial mark-making, then unfolds associatively rather than chronologically. It includes early experiments, assemblages of everyday objects, ceramics from the early 2000s made at Gatti workshop in Faenza, and recent works returning to paper. The institution aims to highlight a nationally significant artist from Emilia-Romagna who received late recognition.