Roma Pop — Tornabuoni Art — Exhibition — Slash Paris

Past: January 21 → March 26, 2016

After spending its first 5 years exhibiting 1960s Milanese artists — with exhibitions dedicated to Lucio Fontana, Enrico Castellani, Dadamaino, Turi Simeti and Paolo Scheggi — Tornabuoni Art Paris inaugurates the opening of a second path through Italian art: Roma Pop.

In the 1960s, the artistic climate in Rome is very different from Milan. The capital has a stronger dialogue with the United States and is subject to a strong influence of the language of American Pop Art.

By the late 1950s, Roman Pop precursors emerged, such as Mimmo Rotella with his appropriation of street posters through a painstaking peeling; followed by Mario Ceroli, the School of Piazza del Popolo, Tano Festa, Franco Angeli and Mario Schifano.

This experiment and research on the image differs from the other Italian art scenes of the moment like the Milanese mono- chrome, the formal expression of the Gruppo Forma and the informal expression of the Gruppo degli Otto. It appears in a cru- cial time in the evolution of Italian society and customs of the 20th century: between the economic boom and its typical dolce vita. In fact, this Italian language, similar to the American Pop, develops its own peculiarities, well defined and recognizable.

Its main characteristic is its relationship with the past, art and history; the reference to culture is almost inevitable. Its unique- ness also lies in the diversity of artistic behaviours, focusing on mass media, popular culture as well as on the history of art and on the diffusion of images that have made the history of art as a consumer object.

American Pop Art references such as Mickey Mouse, Marilyn and Coca-Cola are then swapped for Mona Lisa or Michelange- lo. For example, Tano Festa focuses on the Renaissance’s masters, in particular Michelangelo, and aims to re-populize these images, part of Roman people’s daily life.