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Mimmo Rotella
the Calabria painter who conceived dècollage, a master of Pop Art

Mimmo Rotella was born in Catanzaro on the 7th of October 1918. Since the 1950s, MIMMO ROTELLA has created images by manipulating preexisting ones. Using a reductive decollage process, ROTELLA tears at the surfaces of the posters and advertisements that mark the landscape of the urban environment, literally and figuratively exposing the multiple layers of this everyday imagery. In his most recent work, ROTELLA focuses on images of fashion and nature, confronting parallel issues of the cyclical nature of the seasons. His gestural rips transform the mechanically reproduced images into unique compositions by revealing layers of related material beneath their surfaces.

ROTELLA's artificial aging process calls into question the authenticity of fresh flowers and youthful models as signifiers of the prime of life by bringing attention to their temporary nature. In the fashion images, the addition of painted words addresses the relationship of advertisement and graffiti as urban message bearers. By re-presenting, rather than representing his subject matter, ROTELLA brings a fresh and personal meaning to mass media and takes an active role in the definition of his visual environment.

Marilyn, a Special Swatch designed by Calabrian artist Mimmo Rotella comes from a set of Swatch with Bengala. (1998)

MIMMO ROTELLA has exhibited extensively around the world, and has been the subject of numerous retrospectives throughout Europe and the United States. In 1964, ROTELLA represented his native Italy in the Venice Biennale. His work is included in prominent public collections including the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville, Paris Museum Ludwig, Köln, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Hara Museum in Tokyo, and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. This is his first solo exhibition with the Charles Cowles Gallery.

In 1999 the Mayor of his natal city, Sergio Abramo, signed a City Council order authorizing Rotella to freely remove posters in Catanzaro and its environs.

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