Milan's pioneering artist-run space Spazio di Via Lazzaro Palazzi archived at Museo del Novecento

The Museo del Novecento in Milan presents "Archiviare il presente. Lo Spazio di Via Lazzaro Palazzi al Museo," a reconstruction of one of Italy's earliest artist-run spaces, active from 1988 to the early 1990s. Curated by Iolanda Ratti and Cristina Baldacci, the project revives the archive donated to the museum in 2019, comprising documents, photographs, and writings from the collective. The space was founded by a group of young artists—including Mario Airò, Liliana Moro, Bernhard Rüdiger, and Massimo Uberti—who were students of Luciano Fabro at Brera Academy. Their first group exhibition, "Politica," took place in Novi Ligure in 1988 as a reaction to the prevailing Transavanguardia and fetish object trends. They rented a courtyard space in the Porta Venezia district, near galleries like Massimo De Carlo and Christian Stein, and named it Spazio di Via Lazzaro Palazzi. The collective also self-published the magazine "tiracorrendo," whose first issue appeared in late 1988, named after a listing in the Milan phone book. Their final external show, "Avanblob" at Massimo De Carlo gallery, marked the group's dissolution. Two volumes published by Electa and a documentary by Francesco Clerici accompany the exhibition. Ratti emphasizes the importance of a public museum undertaking such specific research, noting that the protagonists are still active and can contribute to understanding complex themes.