Tiziana Fusari Retrospective at MAXXI L'Aquila

The MAXXI L'Aquila recently hosted a retrospective of Tiziana Fusari (1951–2012), an Italian artist from Macerata who lived in L'Aquila for 40 years. The exhibition, titled La Comédie Humaine, was held in the museum's Project Room until January 28 and organized in collaboration with the Fondazione Giorgio De Marchis, curated by Mauro Mattia and Barbara Olivieri. Fusari, a self-taught artist, began her career in the 1980s with abstract and informal paintings before transitioning to series such as Vele and Lampi, which focused on the female figure and accompanied her diary writing. Her large-scale works used plaster-prepared pattern pieces displayed on clotheslines like colorful sheets, while her Abbecedari were small books pairing images with single words, evoking childhood. The exhibition featured 38 painted cardboard pieces in wooden cases, a video, and a Leporello on paper and gauze tape. The works depict faceless female bodies with pronounced musculature, often pierced by hooks or engaged in extreme gymnastic actions. Critics note influences from Francis Bacon, Louise Bourgeois, and Pina Bausch. The retrospective aimed to bring attention to an artist who had never exhibited in L'Aquila during her lifetime.