Fabio Mauri
Schermo carta rotto
(Broken paper screen)
1958 / 1989
Wood, paper, plaster and glass
96 x 65 x 8 cm / 37 3/4 x 25 5/8 x 3 1/8 in
Photo: Giorgio Benni
Fabio Mauri: ‘I was not new’ – Hauser & Wirth New York Hauser & Wirth New York presents the first major New York exhibition devoted to renowned postwar Italian avant-garde artist Fabio Mauri. 5 Mar – 2 May 2015.]]>
Source: Hauser & Wirth
In a career spanning five decades and a diversity of disciplines and mediums, ranging from drawing, painting, sculpture, performance, film, and installation, to the theatre and theoretical writings that reflect upon the world at large, Fabio Mauri expressed through his art an unyielding critical exploration into the power of ideology and language associated with the Second World War, the rise of Fascism, and the Holocaust, and their lingering echoes in the modern world. His work recovers historical memory that is both individual and collective. Sobering, direct, and poetically reflective, Mauri’s art addresses themes of communication and manipulation, and brings light to the ‘political dimension of the image’ as it is projected and proliferates throughout contemporary society.
The exhibition takes its title from a text written by the artist and displayed as part of the installation ‘Quadreria’ (Picture Gallery) (1999), which summarizes the fates of his relatives, including his great-grandfather Roberto Bompiani, a prominent artist in his time. Presenting an overview of Mauri’s vast and complex oeuvre, highlights of the show include examples of his first monochromatic Schermi (Screens) from the 1950s and 1960s; a recreation of the artist’s first environmental installation ‘Luna’ (Moon) (1968); objects from the performances ‘Dramophone’ (1976) and ‘Ebrea’ (Jewess) (1971); as well as a selection of projections and installations, including ‘Rebibbia’ (2006) and ‘Quadreria’ (1999). Also on view will be an installation of colossal perforated doormats that were created within the last year of the artist’s life. Presented in Kassel at dOCUMENTA (13), each work is inscribed with various phrases, such as ‘Art is important because it represents history and the world as a whole’ (2009) and ‘Art is not autonomous’ (2009).
‘I was not new’ at Hauser & Wirth follows the highly-acclaimed retrospective exhibition presented at Fundacion PROA, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2014) and marks the momentous occasion of Fabio Mauri’s first ever solo exhibition in New York.
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