Painting is Back: Milan Exhibition Surveys 1980s Italian Art

The Gallerie d'Italia in Milan will host 'Painting is Back. Anni Ottanta, la pittura in Italia' from June 2 to October 3, 2021. Curated by Luca Massimo Barbero, newly appointed Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Collections at Intesa Sanpaolo, the exhibition surveys Italian painting of the 1980s, a period Barbero calls the last great moment of Italian artistic identity. The show includes Transavanguardia artists alongside figures like Mario Schifano, Salvo, Franco Angeli, Aldo Mondino, Gino De Dominicis, Carol Rama, and Enrico Baj, with a dedicated room for Baj featuring four rare paintings and the 19-meter-long 'Il mondo delle idee'. Multimedia works by Studio Azzurro are also featured, including the video installation 'IL NUOTATORE (va troppo spesso ad Heidelberg)' from 1984. Barbero conceived the exhibition as an 'hypertext', connecting past and present. He notes that the 1980s saw Italian artists gain international recognition, with The New York Times writing in 1982 that 'Italian artists are everywhere'. The exhibition begins with works from 1977 and 1979 to show the decade's brevity. Barbero aims to make the collection dynamic and to encourage live viewing of artworks.