Tutta propaganda, 1963 

Enamel, pastel, graphite on paper on canvas 

78 x 46 ½ inches (198 x 118 cm) 

Private Collection, Courtesy Fondazione Marconi, Milan 

© Archivio Mario Schifano 

© 2021 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SIAE, Rome

New York, NY — Today, The Center For Italian Modern Art announces an expansion of their Spring programming tied to their new exhibition Facing America: Mario Schifano, 1960-65. Sponsored by Christie’s, this mini-series of conversations titled Something Else: Schifano and Music highlight the intersections between the work of Mario Schifano, the world of Jazz music, and Schifano’s own involvement in the underground music scene of the 1960s.

The exhibition Facing America: Mario Schifano, 1960-65 has recently been extended through November 13, 2021. The New York Times says the show is “excellent” and Hyperallergic notes that Schifano is “a major figure just beginning to get his due.”

More via Hyperallergic and The New York Times.

ABOUT CIMA:

Founded in 2013, CIMA is a public non-profit dedicated to presenting modern and contemporary Italian art to international audiences. Through critically acclaimed exhibitions—many of them bringing work to U.S. audiences for the first time—along with a wide variety of public programs and substantial support for a new scholarship awarded through its international fellowship program, CIMA situates Italian modern art in an expansive historic and cultural context, illuminating its continuing relevance to contemporary culture and serving as an incubator of curatorial ideas for larger cultural institutions. CIMA works to add new voices to scholarship on modern Italian art with annual fellowships that open fresh perspectives and new avenues of research. A visit begins with complimentary espresso, followed by an informal exhibition tour with one of the resident fellows. Visitors are welcome to linger for additional viewing and conversation.

ABOUT MARIO SCHIFANO:

Mario Schifano was an Italian artist. Born in Homs, Libya on September 20, 1934, he emigrated with his family to Italy at a young age. Since the beginning of the 1960s, he was immediately recognized as a leading figure in Italian postwar and contemporary art. He is best known for his so-called “monochromes” and the distinctive figurative works often made with a special collage technique combining wrapping paper and industrial pigments, such as enamel. His work often mixed references to low and high culture, popular icons and art history, featuring well-known brand logos or recurring motifs in the vein of Pop Art. American artist Ed Ruscha (1937 -) recalled being put in with the Pop artists in the 1960s and noted that “Mario Schifano painted in that vein too. I felt like we had a common interest in popular culture, which means ordinary things.” Constantly adapting to contemporary culture, Schifano worked in numerous media, shifting between film, music, or photography—often employing more than one at a time. Until his death in Rome on January 26, 1998, aged 63, in the whole trajectory of his life as an artist, Schifano’s work always resonated with major political, social and cultural issues of his time. 

ABOUT JAMES DEMBY:

James Demby is a musician, composer, and professor of Teoria ritmica e percezione musicale at the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini in Florence, Italy, where he also directs the course of Ewe drums. The son of actress and screenplay writer Lucia Drudi and African-American poet and novelist William Demby, James personally knew Schifano since the 1960s thanks to his family’s connections to the Italian art world of the era. His family collection included works by major Italian artists, such as Fabio Mauri, Mario Schifano, and Toti Scialoja.

ABOUT LUCIANO CHESSA:

Luciano Chessa is a composer, conductor, audiovisual/ performance artist, and music historian. His compositions include the opera Cena oltranzista nel castelletto al lago—a work merging experimental theater with reality TV which required from the cast over 55 hours of fasting—and A Heavenly Act, an opera commissioned by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, with original video by Kalup Linzy. Chessa has been commissioned multiple times by the Performa Biennial, and in 2014 he presented three events at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum as part of the exhibition Italian Futurism, 1909-1944: Reconstructing the Universe. Chessa’s work appeared more than once in Artforum, Flash Art, Art in America, and Frieze; and has been featured in the Italian issue of Marie Claire and in the September Issue of Vogue Italia. In 2009, his Orchestra of Futurist Noise Intoners (OFNI) was hailed by the New York Times as one of the best events of the year, and Chessa has subsequently conducted it across the USA and internationally, to sold out houses. In 2018 he prepared the edition of Julius Eastman's Symphony No. II, the world premiere of which he conducted at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall (The New York Times described Chessa’s rendition as a work that “radiates Cosmic Grandeur”.

ABOUT CHRISTIE'S:

Christie’s is a name and place that speaks of extraordinary art, unparalleled service, and international expertise. Founded in 1766 by James Christie, Christie’s has conducted the greatest and most celebrated auctions through the centuries providing a popular showcase for the unique and the beautiful. Christie’s offers around 350 auctions annually in over 80 categories, including all areas of fine and decorative arts, jewelry, photographs, collectibles, wine, and more. Prices range from $200 to over $100 million. Christie’s also has a long and successful history conducting Private Sales for clients and online sales are offered year-round across all categories. Christie’s global presence is spread across a network of international salerooms and 61 representatives and offices. Christies.comprovides detailed articles and videos on the objects offered for sale alongside the latest advances in digital viewing tools to make Christie’s accessible to all.

CIMA ON THE WEB:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Vimeo | LinkedIn