In the 1970s, Italy was crossed by political and social movements that questioned institutions, languages and forms of artistic expression. Among the protagonists of that season was Pablo Echaurren, born in Rome in 1951, son of the Chilean painter Roberto Matta. Echaurren imposed himself as an artist and activist in the decade marked by student mobilizations, feminist claims and the birth of new alternative political communities. His adherence to the Metropolitan Indians put him at the centre of an experience that sought to combine political dispute with unconventional cultural practices.
The production of Echaurren has always combined different registers: cartoon, caricature, collage and painting coexist in his works along with references to Dadaism and Futurism. The aim was to overcome the divisions between “high” and “low” culture, giving dignity to popular languages and instruments considered marginal. In this way he managed to bring art into the everydayness of the contest, making it an integral part of a strategy of dissent.
In New York, the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò of New York University dedicates to this experience the Art-Action exhibition: Pablo Echaurren and Italian Counterculture in the 1970s. Curated by Ara H. Merjian and Jacopo Galimberti, the exhibition collects works and archive materials to return the climate of 1977, when the Italian counterculture reached its peak among university occupations, assemblies and artistic experiments. The opening is scheduled on 25 September with a guided tour, and the exhibition will be open until 24 October, on working days from 10 to 18.
In addition to visual activity, Echaurren has also distinguished himself as author of essays and chronicles that have reconstructed that season of struggles and creativity. With the art historian Claudia Salaris, his partner, founded in Rome the Echaurren-Salaris Foundation, which houses archives and documents useful to understand the evolution of Italian counterculture and its impact on society. The New York exhibition is part of this rereading path, offering the international public a look at the relationship between art and politics in Italy in the 1970s.
L’articolo An exhibition in New York tells Pablo Echaurren and the Italian counterculture of the 1970s proviene da IlNewyorkese.
