Depero automatico acrobatico

From 7 September 2022 to 26 February 2023 Palazzo della Ragione in Mantua hosts the exhibition Depero Automatic Acrobatic.
It is the first exhibition that the city dedicates to Fortunato Depero (Fondo 1892 – Rovereto 1960), intelligent creator of the futurist aesthetics theorized in Futurist reconstruction of the universe, a manifesto signed with Giacomo Balla in 1915.
It brings together around 90 emblematic works between the years 1917 and 1938, an intensely creative period for Depero, and full of encounters and new experiences, very relevant in his formative and artistic career.
The exhibition was conceived by Electa in collaboration with the Mart, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto, exclusively for the spaces of Palazzo della Ragione. The care is by Nicoletta Boschiero, head of the Casa d'Arte Futurista Depero.

In his long artistic experience Depero has built a total art form that has ranged from painting to theatre, from scenography to applied arts, from publishing to advertising, becoming one of the protagonists of the Futurist movement. The exhibition is a journey through these many creative fields, divided into three geographical stages of his artistic career: Capri, Paris, New York. To these is added a section dedicated to the intense collaboration with the Campari company.
In Capri, in 1917, one of the most creative seasons kicked off, the one linked to the theatrical adventure lived with the Swiss poet Gilbert Clavel. On display are numerous drawings that belonged to Clavel himself, in which the shapes and lines of Depero's sign are defined. Also exhibited is the masterpiece Meccanica di ballerina, and some beautiful ink dedicated to the Gothic novel An institute for suicides, a prelude to the birth of the automaton with the theatrical show Balli plastici, which will be staged in Rome in 1918.
In Rovereto in 1919, after the war, Depero founded the art house - always supported by his wife Rosetta Amadori - specializing in the sector of advertising graphics, furnishings and applied arts and, in particular, in that of intarsia cloth which on display some magnificent specimens. These products would have great success in Paris, at the 1925 Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernis. A crucial experience for Depero, who on that occasion assimilated the potential of advertising promotion.
After the successes obtained in the main national and international exhibitions, Depero and his wife moved to New York in 1928 and opened Depero's Futurist House. In addition to personal exhibitions, during the two years in New York he collaborated on sets and costumes with Broadway theaters; he designs interior furnishings and, above all, his advertising commitment is preeminent with collaborations for important brands. He draws numerous covers and illustrations for American Printer, Vogue, Vanity Fair, of which a significant selection is exhibited.
Advertising is precisely the area that allows the artist to obtain important assignments and collaborate with various companies, in Italy first of all that of Davide Campari. The last section of the exhibition retraces, through numerous examples, that long association which constituted one of the most interesting and profitable collaborations between Depero and the corporate world. Through the Fortunato Depero advertising projects
he has created new expressive languages, also highlighting the particular character of writings, titles or signs, discovering the architectural essentiality that makes things up.
In the exhibition the art of Fortunato Depero is also told through videos made thanks to archival documents. These are Balli plastici, Broadway New Babel and New York live film. This last video takes up an idea of Depero himself. According to the artist's intentions, the New York experience was to be told through an audio book that was to contain numerous anecdotes, photos, collages and records with his own voice. The film on display takes up its spirit and also incorporates clips shot between 1929 and 1930.
The same principle can be found in the pages of the catalogue, published by Electa, in which the works dialogue with period photos, manuscripts and documents composed with numerous anthological pieces.
The installation of the exhibition, based on a project by Massimo Curzi, in the large hall of Palazzo della Ragione follows the chronology of the geographical stages of Fortunato Depero's artistic career, marked by the coordinated image conceived by Studio Sonnoli.

The exhibition opens in conjunction with the Festivaletteratura.
For the evenings from 7 to 10 September extraordinary opening from 20.00 to 23.00 with a special ticket for 6 euros.