Frittelli | Arte contemporanea

Lucia Marcucci
She was born in 1933 in Florence, where she lives and works. After completing her artistic studies, she began to devote herself to visual poetry from 1963, the year in which she elaborated her first technological poem, L'indiscrezione è forte (Marked indiscretion). From the following year she displayed with the Gruppo '70 alongside Eugenio Miccini, Luciano Ori, Lamberto Pignotti, Antonio Bueno and later Ketty La Rocca, and took an active part in the various group events: festivals, shows and various performance activities. Fundamental among these was Poesie e no (Poetry and other), first at the Il Grattacielo Arts Centre in Livorno and later at the festival of Gruppo 63 in Palermo, as well as the events at the Feltrinelli bookshop in Florence, and in other cities in Italy and abroad.

In 1965 she left Livorno, where she had moved in 1955 after her marriage, and returned definitively to Florence, where she taught Design and History of Art at a scientific secondary school. Having taken part in the Visual Poetry show at the Galleria Guida in Naples (1965), she went on to develop further her research into visual poetry, cine-poetry (for example the film-collage Volerà (It will fly) of 1970), poetry as performance and poetry as a manifesto and as happening.
Dating to the Sixties is the creation of the first collages, published by Sampietro of Bologna; the dual verbal-visual code is utilised by Marcucci in line with a cohesion between word and image that proves provocative and desecrating, frequently underscored by debunking messages taken from the terminology of comic strip balloons, which represent an original version of the programmatic lines of the Gruppo 70. Conceived as an alternative to “the present cultural condition”, driven by a marked ideological component, Marcucci’s visual poetry became an expression marked by an ironic and metaphorical charge, frequently laden with a decisive need for transgression. We recall, for example: E’ guerra d’eroi (Heroes’ war), Prr, La signora Italia (Mrs. Italy), Il fidanzato in fuga (Fiancé in flight), Okay.

Lucia Marcucci created various artist’s books, including: Semplice facile divertente (Simple, easy, fun) (pub. Guanda, 1966); Io ti ex-amo (I ex-love you) (Tèchne, 1970 – published for the first time in 1966); Nove stanze (Nine rooms) (pub. Sampietro, 1972); Libro oggetto (Book object) (Campanotto Editore, 1983); Weil-Lettere, (Carlo Cambi Editore), Frittelli arte contemporanea, Florence 2009.
She also contributed a series of critical texts to various specialist journals, including “Dopotutto” (supplement to “Letteratura”), “Il Ponte”, “Arte Oggi”, “Nuova presenza”, “Il Portico”, “Tre Rosso”, “Il Tarocco”, “Nuova Corrente”, “La Battana", “Tèchne”, and “Lotta Poetica”.
When the Gruppo 70 broke up in 1968, she took part in the activities of Tèchne, and with Miccini and Ori in the International Visual Poetry Group or the Gruppo dei Nove, set up in the early Seventies and sustained by Studio Brescia (Brescia). From this time on she pursued her own artistic experimentation, evolving more autonomous and independent themes: she began the series of the Impronte (Imprints) (Aa, Bb, Cc, Non cessiamo il fuoco (No cease-fire), Il paesaggio falso (The false landscape)), in which the dual verbal-visual code is supplemented by the direct and strictly physical participation of her female body.
Among the numerous shows in which she has taken part, we would mention in 1972 the 36th Venice Biennale, Il libro come luogo di ricerca (The Book as a Site of Research); the 38th Venice Biennale in 1978 Dalla natura all’arte, dall’arte alla natura (From nature to art, from art to nature), with the show Materializzazione del linguaggio (Materialisation of language) at the Magazzini del Sale at the Zattere; in 1981 Linee della ricerca artistica in Italia 1960-80 (Lines of artistic research in Italy 1960-1980) at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome; in 1986 in the 11th Quadriennale in Rome at the Palazzo dei Congressi. marcucci portrait.jpg

Among her one-man shows: in 1993, Lucia Marcucci, at the Centro d’Arte Spaziotempo in Florence, in 1997, Lucia Marcucci Poesie Visive 1963-1977, at the Rocca di Umbertide (Perugia), in 1998 the monographic show at the Farsettiarte gallery in Prato.
The most recent retrospective was organised by the Centro d’arte Spaziotempo at the Palagio di Parte Guelfa in Florence in April 2003, accompanied by the monograph “Poesie visive 1963-2003” edited by Lucilla Saccà for the Pacini publishing house (can be purchased online in our shop).
Since 2004 about a dozen of her works have been part of the permanent collection of the Museo di arte contemporanea Pecci in Prato.

In 2005 the autobiographical volume Memorie e incanti Extraitinerario autobiografico, written by Lucia Marcucci herself was published by Campanotto Editore in the Le Carte Nascoste series.
At present several of her works are on display in three recently inaugurated group shows:
Per parole e immagini (Through words and pictures) at the Museo MAGI'900 in Pieve di Cento, up to January 2008; La parola nell'arte (The word in art) at the Mart Rovereto up to April 2008 and Alfabeti (Alphabets) at the Nomad Nomad gallery in Ospitaletto di Brescia. Also in Brescia, since 1972 one of her works has been part of the Fondazione Berardelli collection.
She has been invited to the Third Edition of the International Art Biennial of Malindi curated by Achille Bonito Oliva which will be held in December 2010; moreover the Uffizi Gallery has purchased her self-portrait Autoritratto (Perfection) for the Vasarian Corridor, with a follow-up display project curated by Giovanna Giusti.

Bibliography

Main one man shows: Florence, Studio Inquadrature 33, 1972; Brescia, Archivio Denza, 1972; Brescia, Studio Brescia, Lucia Marcucci. Poesia Visiva, 1973; Venice, Galleria Il Canale, La nuova esperienza poetica di Lucia Marcucci, curated by Rossana Apicella, 1974; Florence, Studio Inquadrature, Lucia Marcucci, curated by Renato Barilli, 1978; Florence, Galleria Interno 92, La Parete, 1983; Tavarnelle Val di Pesa, Galleria Dada Arti Visive, Poesia Visiva 1980 – 84, curated by Gillo Dorfles, 1984; Florence, Galleria Via Larga, Palazzo Pinucci, Libri-pagine-maxipagine 1991/1992, 1992; Florence, Centro d’Arte Spaziotempo, Miscellanea, curated by Gillo Dorfles, 1993; Umbertide, Rocca di Umbertide, Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea, Poesie Visive 1963-1997, curated by Enrico Mascelloni and Carlo Palli (this retrospective offers a broad overview of the production of the Sixties and Seventies and that of the Nineties) 1997; Prato, Farsettiarte, Lucia Marcucci, 1998; Florence, Palagio di Parte Guelfa, Lucia Marcucci Poesie visive 1963-2003, (in this important retrospective at the Palagio di Parte Guelfa, in addition to works illustrating the entire span of her production, many recent canvases with images taken from the world of advertisting were also displayed), curated by Lucilla Saccà, 2003; her last one man show was held in Florence at the Studio d’Arte Aurelio Stefanini, La poesia è forte, 2004. She has been invited to the Third Edition of the International Art Biennial of Malindi curated by Achille Bonito Oliva which will be held in December 2010; moreover the Uffizi Gallery has purchased her self-portrait Autoritratto (Perfection) for the Vasarian Corridor, with a follow-up display project curated by Giovanna Giusti.

Artist’s books: Semplice, Facile, Divertente, Guanda, Reggio Emilia 1966; Io ti ex amo, Tèchne, Florence 1970; Nove Stanze, Sampietro, Bologna 1972; Libro Oggetto, Campanotto Editore, Udine 1983; Memorie e Incanti. Extraitinerario autobiografico, Campanotto, Udine 2005; Weil-Lettere, Carlo Cambi Editore, Frittelli arte contemporanea, Florence 2009.
Anthologies: Antologia della Poesia Visiva edited by L.Pignotti 1965, La Battana, Yugoslavia 1965; Nuovi Miti e Nuovi Riti, by Gillo Dorfles 1966; Poesia e/o Poesia, Situazione della Poesia Visiva Italiana, edited by Eugenio Miccini, Edizioni Sarmic, Brescia – Firenze 1972; The Avant-Garde Today, by Charles Russell, University of Chicago 1980; Lara Vinca Masini, Arte Contemporanea: La linea dell’Unicità – La linea del Modello, Giunti, Firenze 1989; Storia dell’Arte Italiana by G. Di Genova 2000; Nuove Scritture, edited by Roberto Antolini, M. Rizzante, Giorgio Zanchetti, MART, Rovereto 2003; Artiste by Martina Corgnati, Mondadori 2004; Inchiesta sull’Arte edited by Enrico Crispolti, Electa 2008.

Main group shows: Venice, Biennale, Il Libro come luogo di ricerca, curated by Renato Barilli and Daniela Palazzoli; Florence, Studio Inquadrature 33, Poesia Visiva internazionale, Damen, Marcucci, Miccini, curated by Rossana Apicella, 1973; Ferrara, Palazzo dei Diamanti, Magma. Rassegna internazionale di donne artiste, curated by Romana Loda, 1977; Milan, Galleria Mercato del Sale, Raccolta italiana di Nuova Scrittura, 1977; Florence, Palazzo Strozzi, Biennale della Grafica d’Arte, La spirale dei nuovi strumenti. La nuova scrittura, 1978; Venice, Magazzini del Sale alle Zattere, Materializzazione del linguaggio (Marcucci was invited to take part along with 79 international artists at the XLII Biennale), curated by Mirella Bentivoglio, in Dalla natura all’arte, dall’arte alla natura, 1978; Florence, Cappella di Santa Apollonia, Cine Qua Non. Giornate Internazionali di Cinema d’Artista, curated by Andrea Granchi, 1979; Florence, Sala d’Arme di Palazzo Vecchio, La Poesia Visiva 1963-1979, curated by Luciano Ori, 1979; Rome, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Linee della Ricerca Artistica in Italia 1960/1980, 1981; Rome, Palazzo dei Congressi, Arte come Scrittura, XI Quadriennale d’arte, curated by Matteo D’Ambrosio, 1986; Florence, Palazzo Cocchi-Serristori, La Poesia Visiva un percorso internazionale 1963 / 1968, 1988; Florence, Centro d’Arte Spaziotempo, Presenze delle avanguardie a Florence dal ’47 ad oggi, 1991; Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Scrittura e Visualità, 1993; Bonneil sur Marne, Salle Courbet, Le livre dans tous ses états, 1993; Florence, Galleria Visione Arte Contemporanea, Poesia Visiva Anni Sessanta a Florence, 1994; Capua, Palazzo Fazio - Florence, Centro d’Arte Spaziotempo - Milan, Living Gallery, Calligrafie, ovvero la scrittura dipinta, 1995; Prato, Galleria Dopotutto, Il fascino dell’oggetto, curated by Carlo Palli, 1996; Castiglioncello, Autore donna, curated by Martina Corgnati, 1998; Monsummano Terme, Museo del '900 Villa Renatico Martini, La parola come immagine e come segno, Florence: storia di una rivoluzione colta, (1960 – 1980), 1999; Rovereto, Mart, Text – image, ricerche verbovisuali italiane e internazionali dalla collezione dell’Archivio di Nuova Scrittura, 1999; Bologna, Città Europea della Cultura, L’immagine della parola, curated by Valerio Dehò, 2000; Florence, Palazzo Vecchio, Segni Florence, 2000; Vinci, Museo Ideale Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo in Azione e Poesia curated by Alessandro Vezzosi and Valerio Dehò, 2001; Florence, Palazzo Strozzi, Continuità. Arte in Toscana 1945 – 2000, curated by Alberto Boatto, 2002; Ancona, Mole Vanvitelliana, Riflessi nell’Arte, curated by Stefano Tonti, 2004; Seravezza, Palazzo Mediceo, a.i.20 artiste in italia nel ventesimo secolo, curated by Elena Lazzarini and Pier Paolo Pancotto, 2004; Prato, Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci Cinema d’artista in Toscana 1964 – 1980, curated by Silvia Lucchesi, 2004; Prato, Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Primo Piano, Parole, Azioni, Suoni, Immagini da una Collezione d’Arte, 2006; Pieve di Cento, Magi, Fra parole e immagini. Tra Poesia Visiva e espressioni segniche, curated by Vittoria Coen, 2007; Rovereto, Mart, La Parola nell’Arte. Ricerche d’avanguardia nel ’900. Dal Futurismo ad oggi attraverso le collezioni del Mart, 2007; Rome, Palazzo Farnese, Italian Experimental Cinema V.1 ’08. Mostra del Cinema d’Artista italiano dalle origini del Futurismo al Nuovo Millennio, curated by Piero Pala, 2008; Milan, Palazzo Reale, Futurismo 1909-2009. Velocità + Arte + Azione, curated by Giovanni Lista and Ada Masoero, 2009; Sydney, University Art Gallery, Poesia Visiva: Italian Concrete and Visual Poetry of the 1960’s and 1970’s, 2009; Montevarchi, Cantieri la Ginestra Parole Contro 1963-1968 Il tempo della Poesia Visiva, curated by Lucia Fiaschi, 2009; Biennale di Venezia, Venezia Salva, omaggio a Simone Weil, curated by Vittoria Surian, Magazzini del Sale, Venice 2009.

Films, Cine-Poesie: Volerà nel '70, con A. Bueno, E. Miccini, L.Pignotti, 16 mm, 12', 1965; Pugni, pistole e baci, con L. Pignotti, 16 mm, 15', 1966; Cavalcate, con L. Pignotti, 16 mm, 18', 1966; Cinepoesia, 16 mm, 16', 1967.

Poesie Auditive: Gruppo '70. Poemi tecnologici, Ed. Amodulo, Collana di Poesia Sonora, Brescia, 1971.