‘From Depero to Rotella’ Opening Lecture by curator Nicola Lucchi
February 22, 2023, 6:00 PM
General admission: $15. Members and Students: Free
Join curator Nicola Lucchi who will illustrate the concept of the exhibition From Depero to Rotella: Italian commercial posters between advertising and art, and analyze some of the key works exhibited in the show.
Nicola will demonstrate how, while poster art has often been described as derivative in character, from Futurism onwards Italian posters acquired a visual and communicative force that elevated the medium to a form of artistic expression in its own right, pushing the boundaries of lithographic techniques, photomontage, and typography. Focusing on the period of the interwar years and the early post-World War II era in Italy, the curator will illustrate how commercial posters’ peculiar ambition to deliver alluring forms and contents to the masses, rather than to an elite circle, also make them an object of socioeconomic and philosophical interest.
The event will be held in person at CIMA. Limited in-person seating available due to COVID-19 safety protocols.
Light refreshments will be served
About the curator: Nicola Lucchi is the Executive Director of the Center for Italian Modern Art; he oversees the institution’s fellowship program, the calendar of cultural events, and serves as Managing Editor for the Center’s online scholarly journal. Prior to joining CIMA, Nicola worked as Visiting Assistant Professor of Italian at Dickinson College and Lecturer of Italian at CUNY’s Queens College. He has published scholarly articles, book chapters and catalog essays on Futurism, on the relationship between poetry and the visual arts, and on Bruno Munari, in the scholarly volume Bruno Munari. The Lightness of Art. He has also curated an exhibition on Futurist manifestos and ephemera at Queens College’s Rosenthal Library, and on propaganda art in Italy at NYU’s Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò. He received a PhD in Italian Studies from NYU in 2016.
