Mimmo Rotella (EN)

This volume offers an original and in-depth analysis of the career of Mimmo Rotella (1918–2006), one of the main figures on the artistic scene during the second half of the twentieth century.
Twenty critical essays, by Italian and international specialists, focus on the crucial aspects of his rich artistic production, from his early experiments with abstract painting to the invention of décollage and retro d’affiche and his subsequent association with Nouveau Réalisme, Pop Art and Mec-Art, all the way to his late works, when he returned to décollage and adapted it to large urban formats.

“Rotella was drawing attention to the fact that the poster, due to its formless and formal materiality, was a concrete and conceptual means of information, in terms of both its legibility and message. He emphasized the power of its effect on the gaze, as well as the diverse approaches to encouraging the consumption of merchandise.” (Germano Celant)

Rome, La Galleria Nazionale, October 2018 - February 2019

Contents

Mimmo Rotella & Poster
Germano Celant

Mimmo Rotella and Abstract Painting
Luca Pietro Nicoletti

From Noise to Tear, from Epistaltic Poetry to Mixed Media
Ester Coen

This World is a Picture: Mimmo Rotella’s 'Décollages' and 'retro d’affiches'
Paola Bonani

• Assemblages (1953) and Décollages (1954–1963)

Mimmo Rotella, 1960–1963: Between Warhol and Hamilton or between Fellini and Simone Martini?
Tobia Bezzola

“You can make good paintings with ugly posters.” Rotella, Rome and the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna
Massimo Mininni

Mimmo Rotella’s Relations to Paris, to France, and to the Nouveau Réalisme “System”: A Story Under the Control of Pierre Restany
Lola Lorant

• Retro d’affiches (1953-1961)

Rotella and Iliprandi. Art and Advertising between the 1950s and the 1960s
Marta Sironi

Rotella and Milan, an Inevitable Encounter
Francesco Tedeschi

Transfers. Rotella and the Mental Screen
Riccardo Venturi

• Photo emulsions on canvas (1963–1980) and Artypos (1966–1974)

Mimmo Rotella and Mec-Art: From Image to Tool
Paul-Louis Roubert

“My Behavior in Life is a Matter of Art.” The Artist’s Diaries: 'Autorotella' and 'L’ora della lucertola'
Massimo Romeri

Reading Rotella: Reports from the “Anni di Piombo”
Elizabeth Mangini

• Blanks (1980-1982)

Mimmo Rotella and the 1970s
Chiara Spangaro

“I’m so tired of so many images.” Mimmo Rotella’s 'Blanks'
Antonella Soldaini

Mimmo Rotella and Surrealism: Cross-References to Surrealist Iconography in His Objects, 'frottages' and 'effaçages'
Giulia Tulino

• Acrylics (1984) and Sovrapitture (1988–1995)

Mimmo Rotella: The 1980s and the Question of Painting
Gianfranco Maraniello

An Uninterrupted Dialogue, between Myth and Reality. Mimmo Rotella and Art Criticism
Francesca Pola

Mimmo Rotella in Public Collections. A First Survey
Veronica Locatelli

• Décollages (1992–2004) and New icons (2003)

Copy and Paste: The Legacy of Mimmo Rotella between Appropriation and Post-production
Vincenzo de Bellis

On Mimmo Rotella Manifesto. Interview with Germano Celant and Antonella Soldaini
Team Mimmo Rotella Institute

• Appendix

List of Illustrations and Sources of the Artist’s Statements
Bibliography and Exhibitions