Dal disegno al segno

“There is no figurative art or non-figurative art. Everything appears to us in the form of a figure. Even in metaphysics, ideas are expressed through figures; it is therefore evident that it would be absurd to think of a painting without figurations”
(Pablo Picasso)

The exhibition is developed through three thematic groups, each focusing on the figures of several Italian and foreign artists, with an in-depth study dedicated to drawing, and to graphics in general, with a fairly heterogeneous collection of works that are spread chronologically for more than a century. Certainly the comparison between the different arts has marked the academic discussion since the sixteenth century, just think of the debate on the primacy between design and color, but it is with the advent of the modern age that new scenarios are opened thanks to the invention of photography before and thanks also to a renewed attention to drawing practice as a conceptual trace then. The great debate on the theme of verisimilitude during the nineteenth century, which involves painting and photography, greatly influenced the re-reading of painting that somehow came to free itself as a mimetic art with respect to nature. On the other hand, in recent years a gradual awareness of design has emerged as an autonomous practice that develops its peculiarity as a conceptual act, moving away from the mere function of sketch or study. The exhibition starts from this aspect following a chronological and thematic trend and focusing on some fields of investigation, authors and languages, starting from an intense portrait of Federico Zandomeneghi, crossing the Twentieth century from the avant-gardes onwards, to get to Minimalism , with works by Picasso, Fontana and Arman.