MATERIALS: Tempera on paper
DIMENSIONS: 70 × 100 cm
INSCRIPTIONS: Titled and dated on the verso, upper right: ‘Verticale & Orizzontale / Schermo / 1957’
PROVENANCE: The artist
COLLECTION: Fabio Mauri Estate, Rome
CATALOGUE: S_1957_186
Belonging to the very first series of screens, the present work stands out from others in the group – consisting of a standard-sized sheet of white paper (70 × 100 centimetres) with a black border of approximately eight centimetres painted in tempera along the edges – for being made on canvas. In these works, Mauri introduces the concept of a schermo (screen) for the first time, turning the white monochrome into an empty surface potentially capable of containing any drawing or projection. Furthermore, the indication ‘Vertical–Horizontal’ suggests that the painting can be hung in both directions, freeing the work from the mere representation of the cinema screen. Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev writes that Mauri was a forerunner of ‘an artistic, sociological and philosophical debate around communication theory that would develop in the 1960s after his early, precocious reflections. From the very beginning, for Mauri the work was a “second-degree work”, a meta-work that conveys the experience of reality in a meta-real way, intended as a critical deconstruction of thought-manipulating mechanisms, as well as exploring identity of subject in a complex age of experiences pre-determined by narrative, filmic and comic-book representations, not to mention all other contemporary ideological apparatuses.’1
1. Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, ‘Nello schermo: insonnia per divere forme contrarie di universo’, in Fabio Mauri. Opere e Azioni 1954–1994, catalogue of the exhibition (Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome, 1994), edited by C. Christov-Bakargiev, M. Cossu, Editoriale Giorgio Mondadori / Carte Segrete, Milan / Rome, 1994, p. 20.
1985, Rome, Galleria Mara Coccia, Entartete Kunst 1957-1985, 30 May – 29 June.
1990-1991, Rome, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Roma Anni Sessanta. Al di là della pittura, 20 December 1990 – 15 February 1991, curated by Maurizio Calvesi, Rosella Siligato.
1993, Rome, Museo Storico della Liberazione, Fabio Mauri. Un appartamento, 24 March, curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Ludovico Pratesi.
1993, Rome, A.A.M. Architettura Arte Moderna, Oggetti d’affezione: Pareti per collezioni d’autore, opening 25 October, curated by Emilio del Gesso.
1994, Rome, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Fabio Mauri. Opere e Azioni 1954-1994, 21 June – 5 October, curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Marcella Cossu.
1994, L’Aquila, Università degli Studi dell’Aquila, Church of Santa Caterina, Spanish Fort, Modelli da “Opere e Azioni 1954-1994”. Un omaggio dell’Abruzzo a Fabio Mauri, 29 November – 4 December.
1997, Klagenfurt, Kunsthalle, Fabio Mauri. Male e bellezza / Das Böse und das Schöne, 24 April – 30 June, curated by Arnulf Rohsmann.
1997, Venice, Palazzo Querini Dubois, Minimalia. Da Giacomo Balla a…, 12 June – 12 October, curated by Achille Bonito Oliva.
1998, Rome, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Minimalia. Da Giacomo Balla a…, 29 January – 6 April, curated by Achille Bonito Oliva (travelling: 1997, Venice).
1998, Castelluccio di Pienza (Siena), Galleria La Tartaruga, Picnic o Il buon soldato, 5 September – 11 October, curated by Benedetta Origo, Plinio De Martiis.
1999, Barcelona, Fundació “La Caixa”, La meva cosina Marcella i la guerra civil, 29 January – 21 March, curated by Martí Peran.
2003, Tourcoing-Lille, Le Fresnoy, Studio national des arts contemporains, Fabio Mauri – L’écran mental, 1 March – 27 April, curated by Dominique Païni.
2004, Busto Arsizio (Varese), Fondazione Bandera per l’Arte, Il disegno nell’arte italiana dal 1945 al 1975: da Morandi al Concettuale, 28 March – 30 May, curated by Angela Madesani.
2007, Milan, Galleria Milano, Fabio Mauri: Schermi, 3 May – 15 July.
2007, Roseto degli Abruzzi (Teramo), Medieval village, Montepagano, Trasalimenti: Castellarte 07, 15 July – 5 September, curated by Gabriele di Pietro.
2008, Rome, Auditorium Parco della Musica, Fabio Mauri. L’universo d’uso, 17 April – 15 May, curated by Anna Cestelli Guidi, Francesca Alfano Miglietti.
2008, Turin, Galleria Martano, Fabio Mauri: L’insolubile, 7 November – 23 December.
2009, Pescara, Former Aurum factory, Cromofobie, 14 February – 31 May, curated by Silvia Pegoraro.
2009, Rome, Galleria La Nuvola, Black & White, 10 June – 10 July.
2012, Kassel, Museum Fridericianum, dOCUMENTA(13), 9 June – 16 September, curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev.
2013, Venice, Galleria Michela Rizzo, Fabio Mauri. Picnic o il buon soldato, 23 September – 14 December.
2014, Rome, Villa Medici, Painting or how to get rid of it, 11 June – 14 September, curated by Éric de Chassey.
2015-2016, Marseilles, Musée d’art contemporain, Alfredo Jaar: Nous l’avons tant aimée la révolution, 4 July 2015 – 10 January 2016 (travelling: 2013, Turin).
2016-2017, Naples, Museo Madre, Retrospettiva a luce solida, 26 November 2016 – 6 March 2017, curated by Laura Cherubini, Andrea Viliani.
2019, Herning, Heart Museum, Fabio Mauri: The End, 23 March – 25 August, curated by Michael Bank Christoffersen.
2023-2024, Rivoli (Turin), Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Fabio Mauri. Experiments in the Existence of Evil, 16 December 2023 – 24 March 2024, curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Sara Codutti, Marianna Vecellio.
Cesare Vivaldi, “Fabio Mauri”, in Fabio Mauri, exhibition catalogue, Studio d’Arte Toninelli, Rome, edited by Cesare Vivaldi (Rome: Studio d’Arte Toninelli, 1969), pp. 7–8.
Lara-Vinca Masini, “Mario Schifano ‘Inventario’”, in Mario Schifano. Inventario, exhibition catalogue, Galleria d’arte moderna Sangallo, Florence, edited by Lara-Vinca Masini (Florence, 1975), n.p.
Trigon 77, exhibition catalogue, Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz (Graz, 1977), n.p. (ill.).
Fabio Mauri, “La miserabilità e l'arte”, in La Tartaruga, no. 5–6, De Luca edizioni d’arte, Rome, March 1989, pp. 79–80.
Fabio Mauri, “Lo schermo”, in Pino Settanni, Ritratti in nero… con oggetto (Rome: Pieraldo Editore, 1989), p. 110.
Laura Cherubini, “Roma Anni '60. Attraverso le voci dei suoi protagonisti”, in Flash Art, no. 153, Giancarlo Politi Editore, Milan, December 1989, pp. 84–85.
Maurizio Calvesi, Roma anni '60. Al di là della pittura”, in Roma Anni ’60. Al di là della pittura, exhibition catalogue, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, edited by Maurizio Calvesi, Rosella Siligato (Rome: Edizioni Carte Segrete, 1990), pp. 13–14 (ill.).
Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, “I prototipi: schermi. 1957-1994”, in Fabio Mauri. Opere e Azioni 1954-1994, exhibition catalogue, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome, edited by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Marcella Cossu (Milan / Rome: Editoriale Giorgio Mondadori / Carte Segrete, 1994), pp. 21, 78–83, 79 (ill.).
Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, “Nello schermo: insonnia per diverse forme contrarie di universo”, in Fabio Mauri: Male e bellezza – Das Böse und das Schöne, exhibition catalogue, Kunsthalle, Klagenfurt, edited by Arnulf Rohsmann (Klagenfurt, 1997), pp. 22, 73 (ill.).
Achille Bonito Oliva, “Fabio Mauri”, in Minimalia: Da Giacomo Balla a..., exhibition catalogue, Palazzo Querini Dubois, Venice, edited by Achille Bonito Oliva (Rome: Bocca Editori, 1997), p. 118.
Maria Silvia Farci, “Io sono uno schermo”, in Fabio Mauri. Picnic o il buon soldato, exhibition catalogue, Galleria La Tartaruga, Castelluccio di Pienza (Siena), edited by Plinio De Martiis (San Quirico d’Orcia, Siena: Editrice DonChisciotte, 1998), p. 6 (ill.), p. 34.
Marco Di Capua, “Schermo, 1970”, in Novecento. Arte e storia in Italia, exhibition catalogue, Scuderie Papali al Quirinale and Mercati di Traiano, Rome, edited by Federica Pirani (Milan: Skira, 2000), p. 524.
Fabio Mauri, “Les prototypes”, in Fabio Mauri. L’écran mental, exhibition catalogue, Le Fresnoy, Studio national des arts contemporains, Tourcoing-Lille, edited by Dominique Païni (Lille, 2003), pp. 40–43, 84 (ill.).
Angela Madesani, “Il lungo cammino del disegno nell’arte italiana (1945-75)”, in Il disegno nell’arte italiana dal 1945 al 1975: da Morandi al Concettuale, exhibition catalogue, Fondazione Bandera per l’Arte, Busto Arsizio, edited by Angela Madesani (Busto Arsizio: Fondazione Bandera per l’Arte, 2004), pp. 17, 21 (ill.).
Daniela Origlia, “Schermi di Mauri a Milano. E noi vediamo o ricordiamo”, in Diario, Year XII, no. 26, Milan, 2007, p. 25 (ill.).
Fabio Mauri. Schermi, exhibition catalogue, Galleria Milano, Milan, edited by Francesca Alfano Miglietti (Milan: Galleria Milano, 2007), pp. 9–14, no. 6 (ill.).
Gigliola Lai, “Fabio Mauri - Schermi”, in Trasalimenti: progetto per l’arte contemporanea, exhibition catalogue, Medieval village, Montepagano, Roseto degli Abruzzi (Teramo), edited by Gabriele Di Pietro (Roseto degli Abruzzi: Castellarte, 2007), p. 25.
Fabio Mauri. L’universo d’uso, exhibition catalogue, Auditorium Parco della Musica, Rome, edited by Francesca Alfano Miglietti (Milan: Skira, 2008), p. 61 (ill.).
Fabio Mauri, “Schermo-Disegno”, in Fabio Mauri. L’insolubile, exhibition catalogue, Galleria Martano, Turin, edited by Liliana Dematteis (Turin, 2008), pp. 12, 35, 36 (ill.).
Giorgio Sebastiano Brizio, “Fabio Mauri alla galleria Martano, Torino”, in Arte e Critica, no. 57, Rome, December 2008, p. 119 (ill.).
Fabio Mauri, Scritti in mostra. L’avanguardia come zona 1958-2008, edited by Francesca Alfano Miglietti (Milan: il Saggiatore, 2008), p. 159 (ill.).
Maria Rosa Sossai, Film d’artista. Percorsi e confronti tra arte e cinema (Cinisello Balsamo: Silvana Editoriale, 2008), p. 108.
Cromofobie, exhibition catalogue, Former Aurum factory, Pescara, edited by Silvia Pegoraro (Milan: Mazzotta, 2009), p. 86 (ill.).
Black and white 1957-2009, exhibition catalogue, Galleria La Nuvola, Rome (San Marino: Christian Maretti editore, 2009), p. 17 (ill.).
Fabio Mauri, Io sono un ariano (Milan: Lampi di stampa, 2009), pp. 30–31 (ill.).
Giacinto Di Pietrantonio, “Fabio Mauri. Arte e cinema (intervista)”, in Perché non parli? Le discipline dell’arte contemporanea raccontate dagli autori, edited by Giacinto di Pietrantonio, Francesca Guerisoli, Gabi Scardi (Cologno Monzese: Silvia Editrice, 2010), pp. 192–193.
Gianfranco Pangrazio, “Una nudità bella e orribile”, in Alfabeta 2, Year I, no. 2, Milan, September 2010, p. 26.
Bartolomeo Pietromarchi, Italia in opera: La nostra identità attraverso le arti visive (Turin: Bollati Boringhieri, 2011), pp. 137–138, 151.
Elena Volpato, “Fabio Mauri: starting from the end”, in Mousse, no. 29, Milan, Summer 2011, p. 149.
Laura Cherubini, “Schermi”, in Fabio Mauri. Ideology and Memory, edited by Studio Fabio Mauri (Turin: Bollati Boringhieri, 2012), pp. 25–27 (ill.).
La peinture ou comment s’en débarrasser, exhibition catalogue, Villa Medici, Rome, edited by Éric de Chassey (Rome: Drago, 2014), pp. 9–10 (ill.).
Imagine. Nuove immagini nell’arte italiana 1960-1969, exhibition catalogue, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, edited by Luca Massimo Barbero (Venice: Marsilio, 2016), pp. 33–34.
Mauro Carbone, Anna Caterina Dalmasso, Jacopo Bodini, Des pouvoirs des écrans (Milan: éditions Mimèsis, 2018), no. 1, p. 18 (ill.) .
Mauri / Muntadas, exhibition catalogue, Galleria Michela Rizzo, Venice, edited by Laura Cherubini (Imola: Manfredi Edizioni, 2019), p. 19 (ill.).
Laura Cherubini, Andrea Viliani, “La pittura è una storia italiana. Prima che la pittura ritorni: 1959-1979”, in Flash Art, Year 52, no. 343, Milan, March–April 2019, p. 38 (ill.).
Laura Cherubini, Contro corrente: I grandi solitari dell’arte italiana: Alighiero Boetti, Gino De Dominicis, Luciano Fabro, Fabio Mauri, Vettor Pisani, Marisa Merz (Milan: Christian Marinotti edizioni, 2020), pp. 107–108.
