Laura Grisi
Biography
Laura Grisi’s work has always been considered part of Italian Pop Art, though even from the outset she has actually gone beyond that category, promptly intercepting various lines of international artistic research and applying them in her own original synthesis.
From her debut in 1964 to 1968, Grisi’s work featured elements derived from the art of the first half of the 1960s, when economic affluence was prompting artists to simulate a society of consumption, borrowing objects, images and media (in Pop Art), or analyzing the capacity of new technologies to influence perception (in Optical Art and Kinetic-Programmed Art), while also absorbing the modular, geometric aspects of industrial production, the absence of subjective-manual intervention (in Minimal Art).
On the other hand, however, Grisi’s work already included elements belonging to the research conducted in Italy and abroad in the second half of the 1960s, when a phase of economic recession led artists to view the society of consumption as alienating, and therefore to attempt to restore an atrophied creative potential to every individual, making them the protagonists of a dematerialized, de-aestheticized and theatrical art (in the temporary actions and site-specific installations characteristic of Arte Povera and Process Art). [… ] Precisely in response to the oppression and incommunicability of the mass society, in 1967 and 1968 many artists in Italy and elsewhere proposed a return to the primal, vital elements of nature (just consider Arte Povera).
Grisi immediately intercepted this new experimentation, developing the Natural Elements series starting in 1968, of installation/works that artificially reproduce atmospheric phenomena. [… ] With respect to the tautological-objectual and mythical-ancestral use of natural elements implemented by Arte Povera, Grisi presents nature as a mental, technologized. [… ] The particular character of the research of Grisi, from then on, lies in the equal presence of the technological-scientific and aesthetic-perceptive components.”
Curriculum
Laura Grisi
(Rodi, gr, 1939 – Roma, it, 2017)
UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS
2022
Vita Nuova. Nuove sfide per l’arte in Italia 1960-1975, Mamma, Nice, fr
The Measuring of Time, a cura di Marco Scotini, MAMCO, Genève, ch (solo)
Il latte dei sogni, a cura di Cecilia Alemani, 59ma Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte La Biennale di Venezia, Venezia, it
RECENT EXHIBITIONS
2021
The Measuring of Time, a cura di Marco Scotini, Muzeum Susch, Susch, ch (solo)
Io dico io, Galleria Nazionale d’arte moderna e contemporanea, Roma, it
Multiples, Inc., a cura di Dieter Schwarz, Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, ny, us
2020
Earthkeeping / Earthshaking – art, feminisms and ecology, a cura di Giulia Lamoni e Vanessa Badagliacca, Galerias Municipais, Lisbon, pt
Flower Blast, a cura di Annette Lagler and Myriam Kroll, Ludwig Forum, Aachen, de
I sei anni di Marcello Rumma 1965-1970, MADRE, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Donnaregina, Napoli, it
2019
After Leaving, Before Arriving, 12th edition Kaunas Biennial, Kaunas, lt
A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women, a cura di Kasia Redzisz, Muzeum Susch by Grażyna Kulczyk, Susch, ch
She Devil XI, We will survive, Studio Stefania Miscetti, Roma, it
2018
Laura Grisi, Le opere filmiche, 1968-1972, a cura di Elena Volpato, GAM, Torino, it
Hypothesis on Infinity, P420, Bologna, it
Matriz do tempo real, a cura di Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, MAC USP, Sao Paulo, br
2017
Vero Amore, Pop Art italiana dalle Collezioni della GAM, a cura di Riccardo Passoni, GAM, Torino, it
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021
The Measuring of Time, a cura di Marco Scotini, Muzeum Susch, Susch, ch
2018
Laura Grisi, Le opere filmiche, 1968-1972, a cura di Elena Volpato, GAM, Torino, it
Hypothesis on Infinity, P420, Bologna, it
1995
Galleria Ugo Ferranti, Roma, it
1994
Konrad Fischer Gallery, Dusseldorf, de
1992
Leo Castelli Gallery, New York, us
1986
Leo Castelli Greene Street Gallery, New York, us
1981
Leo Castelli, New York, us
Ugo Ferranti, Roma, it
1980
Francoise Lambert, Milano, it
1979
Ugo Ferranti, Roma, it
1978
Saman Gallery, Genova, it
Galerie Konrad Fischer, Dusseldorf, de
Leo Castelli, New York, us
1977
Galleria Marilena Bonomo, Bari, it
1976
Francoise Lambert, Milano, it
Hypothesis about Time, Leo Castelli, New York, us
Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, nl
1975
Stripes, Leo Castelli, New York, us
Stripes, Castelli Graphics, New York, us
Saman Gallery, Genova, it
1973
Pebbles, Leo Castelli, New York, us
1970
Galleria del Naviglio, Milano, it
Galerie E.M. Thelen, Cologne, de
1969
Un’area di nebbia, Galleria Marlborough, Roma, it
1968
Galerie E.M. Thelen, Essen, de
1965
Galleria dell’Ariete, Milano, it
1964
Laura Grisi, Il Segno, Roma, it
Laura Grisi, Errepi, Bologna, it
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021
Io dico io, Galleria Nazionale d’arte moderna e contemporanea, Roma, it
Multiples, Inc., a cura di Dieter Schwarz, Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, ny, us
2020
Earthkeeping / Earthshaking – art, feminisms and ecology, a cura di Giulia Lamoni e Vanessa Badagliacca, Galerias Municipais, Lisbon, pt
Flower Blast, a cura di Annette Lagler e Myriam Kroll, Ludwig Forum, Aachen, de
I sei anni di Marcello Rumma 1965-1970, MADRE, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Donnaregina, Napoli, it
2019
After Leaving, Before Arriving, 12th edition Kaunas Biennial, Kaunas, lt
A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women, a cura di Kasia Redzisz, Muzeum Susch by Grażyna Kulczyk, Susch, ch
She Devil XI, We will survive, Studio Stefania Miscetti, Roma, it
2018
100% Italia, Cent’anni di capolavori, Museo Ettore Fico, Torino, it
Matriz do tempo real, a cura di Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, MAC USP, Sao Paulo, br
2017
Vero Amore, Pop Art italiana dalle Collezioni della GAM, a cura di Riccardo Passoni, GAM, Torino, it
2015
Brera Anni Sessanta-Settanta, Accademia di Brera, Milano, it
2014
Graham Foundation, Chicago, us
2013-2014
Anni ’70 Arte a Roma, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Roma, it
2010
Quadro scultura-scultura quadro, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Roma, it
1998
Forthy Anniversary Show, Leo Castelli Gallery, New York, us
1996
Omaggio a Leo Castelli. Da Rauschenberg a Warhol, da Flavin a Judd, 20 artisti a New York
negli Anni Sessanta, PAC Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milano, it
1990
The Artists of Leo Castelli, Nichido Gallery, Tokyo, jp
Artificial Nature, Deste Foundation, Athens, gr
1988
In Memory of Toini Castelli, The Mayor Gallery, London, uk
1987
Thirtieth Anniversary Show, The First Fifteen Years: Part 2, Leo Castelli Greene Street Gallery, New York, us
Leo Castelli y sus artistas, Centro Cultural Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City, mx
Leo Castelli: A Tribute Exhibition, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, us
Three Decades of Exploration: Homage to Leo Castelli, Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, us
1986
Quadriennale, Roma, it
XLII Biennale, Venezia, it
Surrealismo, Barbara Braathen Gallery, New York, us
1985
Il Museo Sperimentale di Torino: arte italiana negli anni sessanta nelle collezioni della Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna, Castello di Rivoli, Torino, it
1983
Drawing-Photographs, Leo Castelli Gallery, New York, us
1982
Group Show, Saman Gallery, Genova, it
Castelli and His Artists- Twenty Five Years, organizzata da the Aspen Center for the Visual Arts, Colorado; the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, California; the Aspen Center for the Visual Arts; the Leo Castelli Gallery, New York; the Portland Center for the Visual Arts, Oregon; the Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Texas, us
1981
Linea della ricerca artistica in Italia 1960-1980, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Roma, it
Erweiterte Fotografie, Biennale V, Vienna, at
1980
Intricate Structure/Repeated Image, Part I, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, us
Cronografie: Il tempo e la memoria, progetto speciale della Biennale di Venezia, Venezia, it
1979
Intricate Structure/Repeated Image, Part I, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, us
1978-1979
Le figure del tempo, Galleria de Foscherari, Bologna, it
Numerals 1924-1977, Leo Castelli Gallery, New York; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut; The Dartmouth College Museum and Galleries, Hopkins Center, Hanover, New Hampshire; the University Art Gallery, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks; the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minnesota; the Fine Arts Gallery, University of California, Irvine; the Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi; the Center for the Visual Art Gallery, Illinois State University, Normal; the Center for the Arts, Muhlenberg College,Allentown, Pennsylvania; The New Gallery of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, Ohio, us
1977
Time, Philadelphia College of Art, us
1974
De Matematica, Galleria l’Obelisco, Roma, it
Grafica Internazionale, Museo d’Arte Moderna, Torino, it
1973
X Quadriennale, Roma, it
Italy Two: Art around 70, Philadelphia Civic Center, Philadelphia, us
Contemporanea, Villa Borghese, Roma, it (novembre 1973-febbraio 1974)
1972
Mappa 72, Incontri Internazionali d’Arte, Roma, it
1971
Earth Air Fire Water: Elements of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, us
1970
Grafica italiana d’oggi, Palazzo Reale, Napoli, it
Kunst nach Planen, Kunsthaus Hamburg, de
Arte e Critica 70, Modena, it
1969
I Materiali, Qui Arte Contemporanea, Roma, it
Nuovi Materiali, Nuove Tecniche, Carole, Venezia, it
Plane und Projecte als Kunst, Kunsthalle, Bern, ch
Plans and Projects as Art, Actionsraum 1, Munich, de
Galleria Diagramma, Milano, it
1968
Young Italians, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, us
The exhibition traveled to the Jewish Museum, New York, us
Teatro delle Mostre, Galleria La Tartaruga, Roma, it
Galerie E.M.Thelen, Kassel, de
Prospect 68, Kunsthalle, Dusseldorf, de
1967
Mostra Nazionale Premio Trento, Trento, it
Museo Sperimentale d’Arte Contemporanea, Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna, Torino, it
1966
XXXIII Biennale, Venezia, it
Italy New Tendencies, Galleria Bonino, New York, us
Rassegna Arti Figurative, Amalfi, it
1965
Quadriennale, Roma, it
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Museum of Modern Art, New York, us
Brooklyn Museum, New York, us
Weisman Museum, Los Angeles, us
Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, nl
Ludwig Forum for International Art, Aachen, de
Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Torino, it
Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Roma, it
BIBLIOGRAPHY — NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES
2018
Leonardo Regano, Laura Grisi, Hypothesis on Infinity, Gagarin Magazine on-line, it (9 aprile)
Ipotesi di Infinito: Laura Grisi, Diconodioggi on-line, it (29 marzo)
Arte On Line (16 marzo)
Daniela Lancioni, Laura Grisi, 1939-2017, Flash Art Italia no. 337, Milano, it (febbraio-marzo), p.29
Renato Diez, Arte n. 534, Mondadori, Milano, it (febbraio), p.175
Matrix of Actual Time, intervista con Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, New City Brazil on-line (23 gennaio)
2017
In Giro – A-round, Rivista Segno on-line, it (7 maggio)
Exibart on-line, it (6 dicembre)
Artforum on-line, News, us (7 dicembre)
1986
Gerrit Henry, Laura Grisi at Castelli Greene St., exhibition review, Art in America, New York, us
Frederick Ted Castle, Occurrences/New York, Art Monthly 95, us (aprile)
Flash Art Italia no. 134, Milano, it
1983
Arte Bolaffi no. 128, Torino, it (marzo)
1981
Laura Grisi, La Repubblica, Roma, it (23 ottobre)
Filiberto Menna, Combinazioni d’artista—La pittura di Laura Grisi, Paese Sera, Roma, it (15 novembre)
1980
Arturo C. Quintavalle, Cronografie—Memory and Time, Domus no. 614, Milano, it (febbraio)
Flaminio Gualdoni, L’infinito e un triangolo, Il Giorno, Milano, it (23 aprile)
1979
Roberto G. Lambarelli, Laura Grisi, exhibition review, Flash Art International, Milano, it (marzo-aprile)
Achille Bonito Oliva, Laura Grisi, Corriere della Sera, Milano, it (8 febbraio)
Cramer Puts Together Art and Music in Unusual Show, Temple Times 9 no. 8 (18 gennaio)
1978
Robbie Erlich, Laura Grisi, exhibition review, Arts, New York, us (dicembre)
Germano Celant, La Repubblica, Roma, it (3 settembre)
Viana Conti, Una storia del relativo: Laura Grisi, Corriere Mercantile, Genova, it (19 maggio)
1977
Vanni Scheiwiller, L’Europeo, Milano, it (18 febbraio)
Art-Rite no. 14, New York, us, 1976-77, pp. 15-18
1976
Art-Rite no. 14, New York, us, 1976-77, pp. 15-18
Nello Ponente, Laura Grisi, Paese Sera, Roma, it (2 ottobre)
Tommaso Trini, Corriere della Sera, Milano, it (25 gennaio)
Art Press 22, us (gennaio-febbraio)
Henry Martin, exhibition review, Art International 20, Lugano, ch (marzo-aprile), pp. 62-64
Laura Grisi, Info-Artitudes no. 4, (gennaio)
Laura Grisi, Flash Art 62-63, Milano, it (marzo), pp. 32-34
Laura Grisi, Data 22, Milano, it (luglio-settembre), pp. 69-71
Ipotesi sul tempo, Domus no. 556, Milano, it (marzo), p. 51
1975
Germano Beringheli, Le permutazioni di Laura Grisi, Il Lavoro, Genova, it (23 dicembre)
1971
Diane Loercher, Elements of Art, exhibition review, Christian Science Monitor, Boston, us (11 febbraio), p. 9
Boston Arts, exhibition review, Boston, us (gennaio-febbraio), p. 14
Alicia Faxon, Earth Air Fire Water: Art’s Nature, Nature’s Art, Boston After Dark, Boston, us (9 febbraio), p. 12
Robert Taylor, A Bold Step Forward, exhibition review, The Art Gallery Magazine XIV no. 5 (febbraio), pp. 72-74
Kenneth Baker, Boston, exhibition review, Artforum IX no. 7, New York, us (marzo)
George Jappe, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurt, de (6 ottobre)
1970
Art International XIV no. 8, Lugano, ch (ottobre)
Bolaffi Arte no. 4, Torino, it
Tommaso Trini, Domus no. 484, Milano, it (marzo)
1969
Tommaso Trini, Domus, Milano, it (novembre)
Panorama, Milano, it (3 luglio)
Vittorio Rubiu, Corriere della Sera, Milano, it (15 giugno)
Das Kunstwerk, (aprile-maggio)
Qui—Arte Contemporanea no. 5, Roma, it (marzo)
1968
Cesare Vivaldi, Collage 8, Palermo, it (dicembre)
Domus no. 469, Milano, it (dicembre)
Achille Bonito Oliva, Sipario, Milano, it (agosto)
David Shirey, Young Italians, Arts, New York, us (giugno)
Sunday Advertiser, Boston, us (gennaio)
Caron Le Brun, Sunday Herald Traveler, Boston, us (4 febbraio)
Patriot Ledger, Quincy, Mass. (2 febbraio)
Mit neonlicht and plexiglas, Waz (18 gennaio)
Heiner Stachelhaus, Essener Tageblatt, Essen, de (13 gennaio)
Studio International, London, uk (gennaio)
Horst Laube, Neue Ruhr Zeitung (13 gennaio)
1966
Time, us (4 novembre)
The New York Times, us (26 ottobre)
Giuseppe Gatt, Pop e Op verso l’integrazione?, Marcatre. Lerici editore, Roma, it
Cesare Vivaldi, Qui—Arte Contemporanea no. 2, Roma, it
Nello Ponente, Qui—Arte Contemporanea no. 2, Roma, it
Giovanni Carandente, Prospettive di cultura no. 4
Marco Valsecchi, Il Giorno, Milano, it
- Di Castro, Le Arti, Roma, it (giugno)
Art International X no. 6, Lugano, ch (giugno)
Alain Jouffroy, L’Oeil, no. 139-140, Lausanne, ch (giugno)
Pierre Restany, Domus no. 441 (agosto)
1965
Gillo Dorfles, Art International, Lugano, ch (marzo)
Maurizio Fagiolo dell’Arco, Avanti, Roma, it (novembre)
BIBLIOGRAPHY — BOOKS
1990
Germano Celant, Laura Grisi, Rizzoli New York, us
1977
Art Actuel, Editions Skira, Genève, ch
Germano Celant, Off Media, Nuova tecniche artistiche: Video disco libro, Edizioni Dedalo, Bari, it
Achille Bonito Oliva, Autocritico Automobile – attraverso le avanguardie, Il Formichiere, Milano, it
1976
Germano Celant, Precronistoria 1966-69, Centro Di, Firenze, it
Soho: Downtown Manhattan, Akademie der Kunst, Berliner Festwochen, de
1969
Maurizio Calvesi, Teatro delle Mostre, Lerici Editore, Roma, it
Alberto Boatto, Poetiche europee dell’oggettività, L’arte Moderna, Vol XIII, Fabbri Editore, Milano, it
Udo Kultermann, Nuove forme della pittura, Feltrinelli, Milano, it
Udo Kultermann, Neue Formen des Bildes, Tubingen: Vedrag Ernst Wasmuth, de
Geometric Landscape
1966 – cm 205x305x10 – acrilico su tela, collage, plexiglass, pannelli scorrevoli/acrylic on canvas, collage, Plexiglas, sliding panels
photo credit Carlo Favero – Courtesy Laura Grisi Estate, Rome and P420, Bologna
Pebbles
1973 – cm.120×490 totale/overall – 150 fotografie a colori/color photographs – cm.8×13 cad/each in 25 cornici/frames,
photo credit Carlo Favero – Courtesy Laura Grisi Estate, Rome and P420, Bologna
Sunset light
1967 – cm.219x30x30 – neon, plexiglass, acciaio/neon, Plexiglas, steel,
photo credit Carlo Favero – Courtesy Laura Grisi Estate, Rome and P420, Bologna
The Measuring of Time
1969 – video b/n digitale da film in 16mm/b-w digital video from 16mm film, 5’45’’
photo credit Carlo Favero – Courtesy Laura Grisi Estate, Rome and P420, Bologna
Uccello con triangolo
1980 – cm.23x27cad./each – tecnica mista e collage di fotografie su carta, 18 elementi/mixed media and photo collage on paper, 18 elements,
photo credit Carlo Favero – Courtesy Laura Grisi Estate, Rome and P420, Bologna