‘Impoverished Art’

Art enthusiasts recently had a moving experience when they attended the opening of Arte Povera: An Italian Landscape, an exhibit that showcases contemporary Italian art. The event was made possible by the collaboration among the Embassy of Italy in Manila, Security Bank Corp., and the Metropolitan Museum of Manila.

Arte Povera, meaning “impoverished art,” is an art movement that took place between the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s in major cities (Turin, Milan, Rome, Genoa, Venice, Naples and Bologna) throughout Italy.

According to online sources, Arte Povera was coined by art critic Germano Celant in 1967. It was one of the most significant and influential avant-garde movements to emerge in Southern Europe. It included works of Italian artists, whose most distinct and unifying trait was their use of pre-industrial, basic materials like rope, concrete, and iron that they repurposed and transformed into pieces of sculpture and mixed-media installations. The movement was a stark contrast to the stereotypical ornate and gilded Italian renaissance art and provided inspiration to the next generations of modern artists.

The ongoing exhibit, curated by former director of the Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Roma and art critic Danilo Eccher, features pieces from Italian artisans who contributed during the peak of the Arte Povera movement. These include works by Marisa and Mario Merz, Giuseppe Penone, Gianni Caravaggio, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Paolo Calzolari, Francesco Arena, Jannis Kounellis, and Gilberto Zorio Pier.

Arte Povera: An Italian Landscape runs until April 30 at the Tall Galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Manila.

(The Metropolitan Museum of Manila is located at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Roxas Blvd., Manila. For inquiries and reservations, e-mail [email protected] or [email protected].)