Event
Guglielmo Achille Cavellini 1914 – 2014Post an Event »
Italian Cultural Institute Gallery
April 8 - June 8, 2014Info
- http://www.iicsanfrancisco.esteri.it/IIC_SanFrancisco/
- (415) 788-7142
The Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco, in collaboration with the Archivio Cavellini in Brescia and LYNCH THAM in New York City is pleased to present Guglielmo Achille Cavellini 1914 – 2014; a survey exhibition covering two distinct bodies of Cavellini’s work between 1966 to 1990, curated by Amelia Antonucci. In 1971, Cavellini coined the term “auto-storicizzazione” (self-historicization) after he designed sixteen different museum posters each featuring the years “1914-2014” and the date of a solo exhibition celebrating the centennial anniversary of his birth.
The San Francisco exhibition of Guglielmo Achille Cavellini 1914 – 2014 follows the 2013 New York preview that was held at LYNCH THAM from September 18 to October 27; and opens officially in the US the series of celebrations dedicated to Cavellini’s life and his achievements. On view are 14 pieces among which two pivotal series: Crates with Destroyed Works (1966-1970), and From the Page of the Encyclopedia (1973).
Crates with Destroyed Works are a collection of works Cavellini made by destroying the pieces he was creating and subsequently encasing them into crates. These works originated from an internal and emotional source, revealing an attitude brought about by a deep and obsessive self-search. The work encapsulated a strong sense of self-purging and annihilation as he would destroy his work for the sole purpose of re-creating a new ideal, a new form of work.
From the Page of the Encyclopedia is a series of works originated from a theoretical and linguistic code Cavellini invented as a direct consequence of self-historicization. Starting from actual biography, Cavellini expanded his own life story to temporal hyperbolic appropriations. Fabric, objects, clothing and living bodies would become a direct canvas for Cavellini to “paint” his story. While Crates with Destroyed Works relate to issues of self-annihilation, From the Page of the Encyclopedia are text-based works that allowed Cavellini to insert himself into the past and future art history, thereby exploring the idea of self-expansion in these works.