The exhibition Costellazioni aims to recount the work of some of the leading figures of Italian abstract art who shaped the Roman scene from the postwar period onward, when cultural fervor was concentrated precisely in the intense opposition between artists who believed in figuration and others who instead chose the path of abstraction.
For the latter, abstractionism meant, beyond different poetics, a new freedom of expression. Starting from 1947 and through a series of trips to the French capital, abstractionism found new and diverse interpretations. The exhibition opens with a portrait by Renato Guttuso, a point of reference for at least two generations of artists, a “father” to be challenged and protagonist of countless, fruitful discussions.
Like all stories, the one narrated in “Costellazioni” can only be partial and cannot claim any objectivity: it is no coincidence that we wish to attempt a narrative around abstract art far from its most dogmatic version. Alongside the work of artists universally considered “abstract” such as Carla Accardi or Antonio Sanfilippo, we wanted to exhibit painters like Titina Maselli or Francesco Del Drago who have pursued artistic paths far more difficult to categorize.