Illustrated Violence

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Nanni Balestrini, «La Polizia», 1972

This show constitutes the first Spanish exhibition featuring the artistic, political and publishing career of Nanni Balestrini (Milan, 1935-Rome, 2019). Balestrini was one of the most relevant Italian intellectuals to emerge in the 1960s, and was one of the most firmly committed to the processes of aesthetic and ideological dissidence taking place in Italy in the period.

Organized in collaboration with the Soprintendenza archivistica e bibliografica of Lazio, the exhibition is articulated in four chronological sections.

The first section, which covers the period from 1961 to 1969, brings together Balestrini’s poetic and visual production of the time, while also focusing on his activity with Gruppo 63 and his earliest work with digital technology. It also includes his collaborations with musicians such as Luigi Nono and Hans Werner Henze.

The second section, from 1969 to 1979, explores Balestrini’s contribution to the dissident activity of Potere Operaio and Autonomia Operaia. Other aspects in the section include the political process known as Processo7 aprile, where he was legally incriminated, leading to his exile to Paris in 1979.

The third section focuses on the period from 1980 to 1999, when his writing activity was more intense, as he published as many as fifteen different volumes, including novels, poetry anthologies and experimental books. During the period he was in exile he also founded the newspaper Change International (1983), while back in Rome, where he returned in 1984 after his absolution, he started the journal Bestia (1997). In 1993 he participated in the Venice Biennale, while his work continued to broaden to include research into non-verbal language, while also exploring social concerns, as seen in work employing objects and materials from everyday consumption.

The fourth and final section features a review of Balestrini’s work from 2000 to 2019, along with his most important books. The section also presents a selection of work from the series La Tempesta perfetta (2015), where Balestrini explores the visual and linguistic ramifications of the Giorgione painting The Tempest (1508).

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