Carla Accardi

Born in the city of Trapani in Sicily,[1] Carla Accardi studied at the Accademia di Bella Arti in Palermo and Florence prior to moving to Rome in 1946. She founded the art group Forma in 1947 with fellow artists Pietro Consagra (1920-2005), Ugo Attardi (1923-2006), Antonio Sanfilippo (1923-1980), Giulio Turcato (1912-1995), Piero Dorazio (1927-2005), Achille Perilli, and Mino Guerrini, an Italian screenwriter, director, actor and painter. Accardi married Sanfilippo in 1949.[2] Work in Forma was inspired by futurism.[3] Forma 1 had their first exhibition in Rome in 1947. Forma later helped lead to the development of movimento arte concreta.[3] Accardi's work became well known in France where the art critic Michel Tapie took an interest in her work.[4]

Forma 1 artists: Pietro Consagra, Mino Guerrini, Ugo Attardi, Carla Accardi, Achille Perilli, Carla's husband Antonio Sanfilippo, Giulio Turcato, and Piero Dorazio (sitting below).

Accardi's earliest paintings were self-portraits, but her move to Rome prompted more experimental work. In 1946, she joined the Italian avant-garde movement. In the 1960s, Accardi started making her first paintings in black and white, focusing on monochromy, color, and shapes.[5] The inspiration for her black and white paintings came from visiting Paris during her one-woman shows. There the contrasting static and energetic work of Alberto Magnelli and Hans Hartung inspired her to begin painting in black and white. These black and white paintings were referred to as her “Integrazione series”.[6]

She transitioned to vibrant and intense colors in the mid-1960s, with Stella and II Stella (Star I and II).[7] She also began using a clear plastic material called Sicofoil, which she describes as "like something luminous, a mixing and a fluidity with the surrounding environment: perhaps in order to take away the totemic value of the painting."[7] She used this material to make Tendas, or tents of clear plastic, which she adorned with painted forms. After being exposed to these different forms of art, such as black and white painting and Sicofoil, she adopted a greater variety of color once she reverted to canvas painting.[6]

During the late 1970s, she became part of the feminist movement with critic Carla Lonzi. Together, they founded Rivolta femminile in 1970, one of Italy's first feminist groups and publishing houses.[8] Accardi is considered a key member of the Italian avant-garde and her artwork influenced the Arte Povera movement in the late 1960s.[9][10] Accardi's first solo exhibition in the United States was in 2001 at MoMA PS1.[11][12]

Known works include: Bianco nero su turchese (1960), Azzurroviolarancio (1962), Bozetto Bronzo (1964), Segni Rosa and Verde (both 1968), Segni Rosa (1971), Per L'Infinito lo Scirocco (1987), Apparenti Tinte (1990), Grigio Rosso (1992), Verde Rosso (1997), Viola Arancio (2005), Blu (2007), Rosso du Grigio (2008), Senza Titulo (2011), L'Enigma dell'ora, Melodie Fluvial and Mistero en forme (2012).[13]

Solo exhibitions

2007

• Galerie Greta Meert; Brussels

2004

• Macro Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Roma; Rome, Italy
• Galerie Meert Rihoux; Brussels, Belgium

2003

• Carla Accardi- Opere recenti, Galleria Astuni; Pietrasanta, Italy

2002

• Galerie Meert Rioux; Brussels
• Galleria d'Arte Moderna di Ljubljana; Slovenia
• Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; Paris[7]
• Carla Accardi, Galleria Pecci; Milan, Italy

2001

• Triplice Tenda, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center; New York
• Carla Accardi. Premio Artista dell'anno, Palazzo Crepadona; Belluno
• Carla Accardi. Premio Artista dell'anno, Galleria Civica; Cortina d'Ampezzo
• Carla Accardi Disegni, Galleria Santo Ficara; Florence

2000

• Carla Accardi: Sicofoil, Galleria Massimo Minini; Brescia
• Carla Accardi: Opere recenti, Galerie Meert; Rihoux, Brussels
• Carla Accardi: Pietrose distanze, Galleria Astuni; Fano, Pesaro, Urbino

1999

• Carla Accardi: Triplice Tenda, Kunstmuseum; Bonn
• Transparences, Studio Simonis; Paris

1998

• Carla Accardi: Triplice Tenda, Castello di Rivoli; Turin
• Ambiente Arancio, Musee d-Art moderne et contemporain; Strasbourg, France
• Carla Accardi: Opere 1947–1997, Chiesa della Badia Grande e Laboratori Officina; Trapani
• Carla Accardi, Overbeck Gesellschaft; Lubeck, Germany

1997

• Galleria Cesare Manso; Pescara, Italy
• Galleria Vannuci; Pistoia, Italy
• Atelier del Bosco a Villa Medici, Academie de France; Rome
• Dove nasce il segno (oeuvres 1953) Studio Simonis; Paris
• Carla Accardi: Ambiente arancio 1967, Telecarte, Galerie Meert; Rihoux, Brussels

1996

• Stadtische Galerie; Wolfsburg
• Galleria Fumagalli; Bergamo

1995

• Kunstverein; Ludwishafen, Germany
• Galleria delle Arti; Citta di Castello, Italy
• Giochi galleggianti e trasparenze, Centro d'Arte Contemporanea Spazio Umano; Milan

1994

• Una forma d'esistenza, Fumagalli Arte Contemporanea; Bergamo
• Opere 1954–1993, Galerie Meert; Rihoux, Brussels

1950

• Carla Accardi. 15 Tempere Galleria Age d'Or; Rome, Italy

Group exhibitions

2007

• Carla Accardi meets Lucio Fontana, Martha Herford; Germany

2006

• Cenni e Barlumi, Galleria Massimo Minini; Brescia
• Infinite Space, Carla Accardi e Lucio Fontana. Galleria Sperone Westwater; New York
• Camere Chambers, Sound Art Museum; Rome
• Italy made in art – Now, MOCA Shanghai; Shanghai
• Venezia 1948-1986 - :a scena dell'arte, Peggy Guggenheim Collection; Venice
• Immaginario Femminile, Gall. Biasutti & Biasutti; Torino

2005

• Paintings 1955–2004, Sperone Westwater Gallery, New York and Casa italiana Zerrilli Marimo; New York University, USA
• Segnali italiani dalla collezione d'Arte Contemporanea alla Farnesina, Galleria dell Accademia serba delle Scienze e delle Arti; Belgrado
• Accardi Turcato. Carte, Galleria Santo Picara; Firenze

2004

• Forma 1 e I suoi artisti, Riga, Casa delle Terre Nere; Lettonia
• Capricci, Ex Pinacoteca Comunale; Assisi
• Accardi castellani Asdruball, Il ritmo dei sedni gall. Santo Picara; Firenze
• On Paper Carla Accardi, Francesco Impellizzeri, Gall, A.A.M. Architettura Arte Moderna; Rome
• Da Balla alla Transavanguardia, Triennale; Milan
• Carla Accardi, Valery Koshlyakov, Sissi, Macro, Rome Italy; Dorf in die Metropole Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden; Baden-Baden, Germany

2003

• Si adagiarono sparse, Magazzino d'Arte Moderna; Rome
• Incontri, Galleria Borghese; Rome
• Galerie Meert Rihoux; Brussels

2002

• TRE – generazioni a confronto III, L.I. Art Laboratorio Incontri d'Arte; Rome, Italy

2001

• Camera Italia, Vistamare associazione culturale; Pescara
• Visita Guidata, Calcografia Nazionale; Rome
• Artisti italiani del XX Secolo alla Farnesina Ministero degli Affari Esteri; Rome
• Italiens Klassische Moderne, Carla Accardi, Piero Dorazio, Achille Perilli, Frankfurter Westen Galerie; Frankfurt
• Belvedere italiano, 1945–2001. Linee di tendenza dell'arte contemporanea; Warsaw
• 1989- Berliner Mauer Kunst fur ein Europa im Aufbruch, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum/Fondation Corboud Josef-Haubrich, Kunsthalle Koln; Cologne

2000

• Miracoli a Milano 1955-1965 Artisti Gallerie Tendenze, Comune di Milano, Museo della Permanente; Milan
• Wollways, Fondation Pistoletto; Paris
• Novacento Arte e Storia in Italia, Scuderie Papali al Quirinale; Rome
• Verso Sud, Palazzo Doria Pamphilj; Valmontone, Rome
• Giganti, Scavi dei Fori Imperiali; Rome
• Biennale de La Havane
• Forma 1 e I suoi artisti, Galleria Comunale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea; Rome
• Artisti Collezionisti, Palazzo delle Papesse Centro Arte Contemporanea; Siena

1999

• L'ultimo Disegno del 1999, Zerynthia Associazione per l'Arte Contemporanea; Rome
• Minimalia, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center; New York
• Perhe?, presentazione del numero 1 della rivista, Fossa dei serpenti; Milan
• Fondo Oro, Accardi, Gilardi, Ontani, Paolini, Salvatori, Salvo, Galleria Santo Ficara; Florence
• Art Club 1945–1964, la linea astratta, Basilica Palladian di Vicenza; Vicenza

1947

• Arte giovane italiana; Prague, Czech Republic[14]