Recognition for Italian Artists Abroad Before Their Home Country

In your experience, which living Italian contemporary artists have achieved the greatest visibility abroad, and thanks to which factors (e.g., galleries, biennials, exhibitions, curators, etc.)?

As a premise, I would exclude from my comment the historicized positions related to movements like Arte Povera and Transavanguardia, whose reasons for foreign success have already been widely analyzed, and I would limit the analysis to roughly the last 30 years. I also skip over recent re-evaluations of Italian artists, elderly or deceased, who are part of the broader critical and market reconsideration of artists previously marginalized from more successful narratives. Regarding the post-Transavanguardia generation, which emerged in the early ’90s, it is undeniable that the artists who have so far had the most visibility are those who have been able to participate in a globalized artistic and social scene, sometimes even moving abroad in more or less permanent ways. I am obviously referring to Maurizio Cattelan and, to some extent, Vanessa Beecroft, although the impact of the American system was absorbed quite differently by the two artists. Other artists, like Monica Bonvicini and later Enrico David, are examples where the experience abroad was even more deeply rooted, also influencing the development of their artistic language. In these cases, recognition came first abroad before their home country. Years later, artists like Giorgio Andreotta Calò and Rossella Biscotti also benefited from postgraduate experiences abroad.

Unfortunately, few artists have gained significant international visibility while permanently living in Italy. Artists such as Paola Pivi, Lara Favaretto, Francesco Vezzoli, and, for a shorter period, Patrick Tuttofuoco have managed to connect with an international context, sometimes starting with rapid support from the most recognized Italian museum institutions abroad. The most symptomatic example of a life and work “strategy” very different from the earlier examples is certainly Roberto Cuoghi (and to a lesser extent Pietro Roccasalva), who chose the exact opposite form of distance — isolation — to create an aura of mystery, if not legend, around his “character.” While following more traditional life paths in Italy, Massimo Bartolini, Adrian Paci, Marinella Senatore, and Luca Vitone have achieved a certain level of international visibility. The latest generation, pre-Covid, was moving within a general fluidity of digital and real boundaries, whose possibilities of navigation are still too early to fully assess.

In your opinion, which contemporary Italian artists have not yet reached adequate visibility despite their artistic value, and what are the causes of this lack of recognition?

The list would be very long, but at least Stefano Arienti, Giuseppe Gabellone, Massimo Grimaldi, Marcello Maloberti, Eva Marisaldi, Alessandro Pessoli, Diego Perrone, and Luca Trevisani are some of the artists who now have a quality body of work and a sufficient history to have deserved greater visibility in an international context, especially through institutional exhibitions.

In your experience, what are the steps and elements that favor the international career of a contemporary Italian artist? And where is the Italian system lacking in supporting contemporary Italian art on the international stage?

I tried to answer these and similar questions in a text titled These are all protest songs… oder nicht?, published in the November 2017 issue of Flash Art. This text continues the reflection that permeated my book on Italian art, L’uccello e la piuma (2009). Forgive me if I don’t have the energy to find new answers now. Although the answers proposed in those texts are partial and relate to a “subtheme” compared to your questions and certainly do not exhaust the issue, it seems to me that they have become highly relevant again in the context of the political, social, and artistic developments of roughly the last two years.