Mario Schifano exhibition at the Gallerie d'Italia-Naples

The Gallerie d'Italia in Naples is hosting "Mario Schifano: il nuovo immaginario. 1960-1990" (Mario Schifano: the new imagery. 1960-1990): the exhibit features more than 50 works by one of the most important Italian artists in the national and international 20th century scene.

Curated by Luca Massimo Barbero, the exhibition presents Schifano's works ranging from the 1960s to the 1990s, starting with his first dense monochrome paintings: these are extremely rare monochrome works, some of them from the Luigi and Peppino Agrati Collection - now part of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group's artistic heritage - brought together for the first time on this important occasion.

The 1963 work Grande pittura introduces the theme of signs, with iconic paintings dedicated to Esso, Coca Cola and city signs, which characterised Schifano's research in the early 1960s.

The exhibition then continues with paintings dedicated to great Italian landscapes such as Ultimo autunno (1964) and the little masterpiece Futurismo rivisitato, and closes the first section with some large works such as Compagni Compagni and Tableau peint pour raconter l'inquietude amoreuse de Susi.

On display for the first time to the public are a series of works from the 1970s called Paesaggi TV: creations that, by looking at painting afresh through the use of cameras and the emulsion of colour on canvas, offer a new take on news, art and advertising.

In addition, after a foundational work such as Festa Cinese, measuring over seven metres, the exhibition brings together the last three decades of Schifano's artistic production in a scenographic manner: among the large-format works are emblematic works such as the 1986 Gaston a cavallo, two important works such as Gigli d'acqua and Acerbo, and three large contemporary canvases in which the artist reinterprets his passion for the screen, media and the contemporary world.

The exhibition – open to the public from 2 June to 29 October 2023 – includes works from the Intesa Sanpaolo Collection, the Museo del Novecento in Milan and the Galleria Internazionale d'Arte Moderna Cà Pesaro in Venice, as well as from national and international art galleries and private collections. It also benefits from collaboration with the Mario Schifano Archive.

The Naples museum, together with those of Milan, Turin and Vicenza, is part of Intesa Sanpaolo's Gallerie d'Italia museum project.