This week in Shanghai, the exhibition “Roma 1950–1965” opens at the recently restored Prada Rong Zhai. The show, presented by Fondazione Prada and curated by Germano Celant, looks at Rome during a crucial 15-year period as an incubator for new ideas and a city full of contradictions. Through a collection of over 30 paintings and sculptures, visitors experience the dynamic art scene of post-World War II Rome and the city’s influence on the Italian filmmaking scene.
Through the work of artists like Ettore Colla, who used industrial waste to create “acts of human intelligence” out of materials that were otherwise considered trash, “Roma 1950-1965” narrates the push and pull between artists trying to reconcile collective life with individual experience and those who were rethinking ideological realism. Also revealed is a series of historical photographs and documents that demonstrate the productive and explorative dialogue that helped to bring on the Neorealism movement with film directors like Roberto Rossellini and Federico Fellini. Other artists included are Carla Accardi, Nino Franchina, Toti Scialoja, and more. “Roma 1950–1965” is open to the public from March 23–June 27.
Afro Basaldella
Cronaca Nera (Crime News)
1951
Courtesy of Fondazione Prada
