Cioni Carpi vs Gianni Melotti: the double show is now online

Fondazione Ragghianti Lucca’s exhibition is a double journey through the daring and experimental works of the artists, who were active in two moments of great fervour of the Italian art scene.

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021) Gianni Melotti, L’iconografia e l’iconoclasta, 1977

Silver salt print, (wooden box 36x52 cm no longer available) and manuscript file, 110x140 cm. In total 9 silver salts prints, unique piece. Courtesy Archivio Gianni Melotti

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021) Gianni Melotti, Giallo, 31 December 1979

Color photographic print, 24x30 cm, in total 7 color photographic prints, unique pieces.  Courtesy Archivio Gianni Melotti

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021) Gianni Melotti, Foto Fluida, 1983

Contact cibachrome print on color monitor, 50x60 cm ca., videography series, 5 cibachromes, unique samples. Courtesy Gianni Melotti Archive

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021) Gianni Melotti, Come as you are / Jacket and, 1981

Super8 silent color film, unique sample. Courtesy Archivio Gianni Melotti

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021) Cioni Carpi, artist portrait, 2020

©AlbertoMessina2020

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021) Gianni Melotti, Uovo fritto, Florence, Piazza Santo Spirito, 1980

Projection. Courtesy Archivio Gianni Melotti

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021) Cioni Carpi, Città distante: Clwyd con stanza rossa, 1987

Mixed technique on canvas, 48,5 x 72,5 cm, private collection. Photo ©AlbertoMessina2020

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021) Cioni Carpi, Palinsesto 2, 1963

Photo Alessandro Zambianchi - Simply.it, Milan. Courtesy Panza Collection, Mendrisio

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021) Double exhibition at the Fondazione Ragghianti Lucca, now visible online. Curated by Angela Madesani (Cioni Carpi) and Paolo Emilio Antognoli (Gianni Melotti).  

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021) Double exhibition at the Fondazione Ragghianti Lucca, now visible online. Curated by Angela Madesani (Cioni Carpi) and Paolo Emilio Antognoli (Gianni Melotti).  

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021) Double exhibition at the Fondazione Ragghianti Lucca, now visible online. Curated by Angela Madesani (Cioni Carpi) and Paolo Emilio Antognoli (Gianni Melotti).  

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021) Double exhibition at the Fondazione Ragghianti Lucca, now visible online. Curated by Angela Madesani (Cioni Carpi) and Paolo Emilio Antognoli (Gianni Melotti).  

After several closures and reopenings, the exhibition featured at the Fondazione Ragghianti in Lucca is now available online through a virtual tour. On show are several artworks by two significant figures of the Italian scene in the period between the 60s and 80s: the Milanese Cioni Carpi (1923-2011) and the Florentine Gianni Melotti (1953) whose research is united by transmediality, creative audacity and wild experimentation.

The first exhibiton, curated by Angela Madesani, reconstructs Cioni Carpi’s history, born Eugenio Carpi de’ Resmini, the Narrative Art’s only Italian exponent (with Franco Vaccari), which in its production has brought together heterogeneous languages, from photography to video. In the exhibition are shown about forty large-scale works including paintings, installations, photographic works, films, installations, drawings, projects and books created by the artist in a single copy, but also volumes and catalogs that document the activity.

The retrospective on Gianni Melotti, however, is curated by Paolo Emilio Antognoli, and focuses on the first period between 1974 and 1984, telling the meetings with the characters of the time, from Lanfranco Baldi to Luciano Bartolini from Giuseppe Chiari to Bill Viola. The exhibition is the result of historical and archival research that aims to tell the artistic side of Melotti (so far known only as a photographer to most) also thanks to unpublished works.

Video of the exhibition “The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti”

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021) Silver salt print, (wooden box 36x52 cm no longer available) and manuscript file, 110x140 cm. In total 9 silver salts prints, unique piece. Courtesy Archivio Gianni Melotti

Gianni Melotti, L’iconografia e l’iconoclasta, 1977

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021) Color photographic print, 24x30 cm, in total 7 color photographic prints, unique pieces.  Courtesy Archivio Gianni Melotti

Gianni Melotti, Giallo, 31 December 1979

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021) Contact cibachrome print on color monitor, 50x60 cm ca., videography series, 5 cibachromes, unique samples. Courtesy Gianni Melotti Archive

Gianni Melotti, Foto Fluida, 1983

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021) Super8 silent color film, unique sample. Courtesy Archivio Gianni Melotti

Gianni Melotti, Come as you are / Jacket and, 1981

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021) ©AlbertoMessina2020

Cioni Carpi, artist portrait, 2020

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021) Projection. Courtesy Archivio Gianni Melotti

Gianni Melotti, Uovo fritto, Florence, Piazza Santo Spirito, 1980

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021) Mixed technique on canvas, 48,5 x 72,5 cm, private collection. Photo ©AlbertoMessina2020

Cioni Carpi, Città distante: Clwyd con stanza rossa, 1987

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021) Photo Alessandro Zambianchi - Simply.it, Milan. Courtesy Panza Collection, Mendrisio

Cioni Carpi, Palinsesto 2, 1963

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021)

Double exhibition at the Fondazione Ragghianti Lucca, now visible online. Curated by Angela Madesani (Cioni Carpi) and Paolo Emilio Antognoli (Gianni Melotti).  

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021)

Double exhibition at the Fondazione Ragghianti Lucca, now visible online. Curated by Angela Madesani (Cioni Carpi) and Paolo Emilio Antognoli (Gianni Melotti).  

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021)

Double exhibition at the Fondazione Ragghianti Lucca, now visible online. Curated by Angela Madesani (Cioni Carpi) and Paolo Emilio Antognoli (Gianni Melotti).  

The adventure of new art | 60-80 years. Cioni Carpi | Gianni Melotti (2020-2021)

Double exhibition at the Fondazione Ragghianti Lucca, now visible online. Curated by Angela Madesani (Cioni Carpi) and Paolo Emilio Antognoli (Gianni Melotti).