The Center For Italian Modern Art (CIMA) Announces New Exhibition Bruno Munari: The Child Within

OCTOBER 6TH 2022 - JANUARY 14TH 2023

CURATED BY NYC-BASED AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR STEVEN GUARNACCIA

September 7 - For its Fall 2022 season, the Center for Italian Modern Art (CIMA) will present Bruno Munari: The Child Within, an exhibition exploring the work of the protean multidisciplinary Italian 20^th century designer through the lens of his innovative books for children. Though the intended audience for Munari’s children’s books is, indeed, children, many of the experiments that Munari conducted with light, transparency, pierced surfaces and paper mechanics, that eventually resulted in some of his most iconic design objects, were first explored in the commercial and experimental books that he made for children. Munari was also an indefatigable teacher, in books, essays, workshops and lectures, and many of his children’s books may be seen as giving corporeal form to his lessons. The exhibition will be open to the public from October 6th, 2022 - January 14th, 2023.

Bruno Munari: The Child Within is organized in collaboration with Corraini Edizioni, under the patronage of Istituto Italiano di Cultura, New York.

Featuring approximately 130 books, objects and artworks from archives, museums, galleries and private collections, Bruno Munari: The Child Within is curated by Steven Guarnaccia, professor Emeritus at Parsons School of Design and an author and illustrator of books for adults and children focusing on design and culture. Guarnaccia lectures widely on experimental children’s books and has contributed to international design publications including Domus and Abitare, as well as creating illustrations to accompany the exhibition, Achille Castiglioni: Design! at the Museum of Modern Art. He collaborates regularly with Corraini Edizioni, the principal publisher of Bruno Munari’s books.

The exhibition will include avant-garde constructivist books from the Adler Collection, which had a formative influence on Munari’s work. It is possible to browse through the pages of these books digitally through a QR code available at CIMA. Stories in other books in the exhibition are available in audio format. The exhibition will also create a dialogue between the various areas of Munari’s creative practice and draw links among diverse areas of activity, including lighting and furniture design, collage, sculpture and various print technologies, including photography, xerography and book making. Munari delighted in using unconventional materials in his books, including metal, thread, plastic, various textiles and found objects and he didn’t limit himself to any one style or formal language. The exhibition aims to facilitate conversations among artists and designers from across disciplines and cultural contexts.

This simultaneously playful and thought-provoking exhibition will be held at CIMA (421 Broome Street, 4th floor, New York, New York, 10013) and is open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays by appointment.

The themes of the exhibition will extend both to its robust slate of public programs and to events, including lectures, concerts, screenings, and activities for students. Details of public programs will be announced in the coming weeks. CIMA’s exhibitions result from the curator’s deep knowledge of the selected topic, but also function as a catalyst for new research by CIMA’s international fellows who gain and share new insights on the show’s themes with the public.

The fellows’ research will be included in CIMA’s accredited academic online journal, Italian Modern Art following the exhibition’s run (www.italianmodernart.org/journal). CIMA’s international fellows for Bruno Munari: The Child Within will be Margaret Scarborough and Giulia Zompa.

This exhibition is made possible with support from Sonus faber, an Italian heritage audio brand based in Vicenza, Italy.

Ricostruzione teorica di un oggetto immaginario (1969). Image courtesy of Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York;

kaufmann repetto, New York / Milan, and Repetto Gallery, London.