New illustrated children's book celebrates Carla Accardi's centenary

A new illustrated children's book on Carla Accardi has been published by Raum Italic in collaboration with MAXXI, marking the centenary of the Sicilian painter's birth. Following the format of previous children's books on Alighiero Boetti and Zaha Hadid, the volume presents Accardi's life and work in accessible language for young readers. Part of the Piccoli MAXXI editorial series, the book begins with Accardi's childhood in Trapani, where she watched migrating birds and drew family portraits. Written by Irene Corsetti and illustrated by Irene Rinaldi, it covers Accardi's experimental phases, her role as the only woman among the founders of the Forma 1 group, and her involvement in the Italian feminist movement. The book highlights her use of sicofoil and environmental structures from the 1980s, which invited viewers to explore light, color, and form. Accardi's career spanned from post-war abstraction to informal art, painting-environment, dematerialized art, and the vibrant painting of the 1980s and large diptychs and triptychs of the 1990s and 2000s. The volume condenses each phase into brief paragraphs that contextualize her poetics and intentions.