EDDart, in collaboration with Richard Saltoun Gallery, presents Franca Maranò: Elogio del Margine, from May 4 to June 30, 2023. Curated by Paola Ugolini, the exhibition is the first retrospective of Franca Maranò (Bari, 1920–2015) in Rome since her passing. An eclectic and imaginative figure, Maranò was one of the pioneers in the use of textiles in contemporary art during the 1970s. In 1970, together with five other artists, she founded Centrosei, the first avant-garde gallery in Bari, which hosted solo exhibitions by militant women artists such as Mirella Bentivoglio, Tomaso Binga, Maria Lai, Elisa Montessori, and Ketty La Rocca.
On view are both her sculptural works in ceramic and her textile production, which includes the Cuciti series, composed of abstract compositions created on canvas, and the Abiti Mentali, made of medieval canvas, red cloth, and black cotton thread, used for performances and installations conceived by the artist from 1977 onwards. The exhibition title aims to highlight the context of marginality in which Franca Maranò’s artistic research developed: “In a southern Italy traditionally steeped in patriarchal culture, where the female voice has struggled to be heard” (Paola Ugolini). In one of her statements, the artist from Bari affirms that it was the feminist movement that led her to reconsider the terms of her research, “also in order to satisfy my need to operate outside the culture of privilege and without further ties of relevance to the codes of what has already been done and to traditional pictorial means.”
The ninth catalogue published by EDDart, featuring a text by Paola Ugolini, is currently in production. Special thanks to the Archivio Franca Maranò, Bari.