Marcello Maloberti on 1990s Italian Art and His Practice

Marcello Maloberti, born in 1966 in Codogno, is the first artist featured in Artribune's new interview series 'Italia 90', which revisits Italian artists who began exhibiting in the 1990s. Maloberti discusses his relational practice involving people, objects, and spaces, emphasizing instinct and alchemy. He notes that his work has evolved with changing stimuli but retains the wonder of early pieces like 'Casa' (with his grandmother under a table) and 'La vertigine della Signora Emilia' (with his mother and grandmother in pizza-tablecloth dresses). He teaches visual arts at NABA, viewing teaching as creation, per his mentor Luciano Fabro. Maloberti critiques the contemporary art scene as more business and spectacle, with less authentic research. His recent action 'Raid' at Museo Pecci, curated by Cristiana Perrella, was inspired by the sound of falling books. He describes his work as 'performatività allargata' (expanded performativity), preferring collective bodies over his own presence, akin to Caravaggio's self-portraits. He has about a hundred unrealized projects, which he keeps secret.