Ilario Rossi

AA.VV.
Nero

Act or Perish: Gustav Metzger: a Retrospective is the first extensive overview of an artistic oeuvre considered as one of the most important in the 20th century, and spans the period from the late 1940s until today. It includes a systematic insight into Gustav Metzger's early years of political activism and his formative years as an artist. Showing the influence of environmental and political engagement on his artistic radicalization, it includes documentary material from the artist's newly rediscovered own archives. Gustav Metzger was born in 1926 in Germany to a family of Polish-Jewish descent. He grew up in the shadow of increased Nazi propaganda and power display in his hometown of Nurenberg. Metzger was rescued in 1939 and taken to England by the buses of the Refugee Children Movement, while his parents and elder brother perished in the Holocaust. A central role in Gustav Metzger's art is held by his manifestos for Auto-Destructive art - the first was published in 1959. The exhibition sheds light on how this radical move evolved from his experiments and developments with painting. In particular, his "demonstrations" with acid paintings, together with works on industrial materials, like mild steel and plastic, show a direct relationship to the manifestos for Auto-Destructive art.

Nora Schultz
Secession

Concetto Tamburello
Società Umanitaria

Franco Assetto
Fabbri Editori

s.a.
s.e.

Mario de Micheli
Poligrafiche Bolis

Umbro Apollonio, Michel Tapié
Éditions du Griffon

AA.VV.
Silvana Editoriale d'Arte

AA.VV.
Silvana

Il volume è il catalogo della mostra di Lugano (Museo Cantonale d'Arte, 10 ottobre 2004 - 16 gennaio 2005). L'esposizione indaga la presenza del mondo infantile nelle opere di alcuni tra i più significativi artisti del XX secolo. Il disegno infantile, quale manifestazione di una creatività libera da condizionamenti e sovrastrutture culturali, è un soggetto che ha profondamente interessato le avanguardie storiche e che spesso ha costituito una fonte diretta d'ispirazione artistica. Ne sono un esempio in tal senso le raccolte di disegni infantili di Kandinskij e Münter, i dipinti di Paul Klee, e le opere di altri autori che hanno osservato con grande attenzione il mondo dei bambini, come Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró e Fortunato Depero.

Chrissie Iles, Philippe Vergne
Whitney Museum of American Art

Raffaele De Grada
Giorgio Mondadori e associati

Rudy Chiappini
Museo Casa Rusca