"Sono rimasta sorpresa: nella piazza ho notato un albero fiorito". Notes on Mirella Bentivoglio's Participation in Gubbio '76

Abstract

Conceived for the Biennale della Ceramica di Gubbio (Gubbio ’76) curated by art historian and critic Enrico Crispolti, Poesia in Piazza – this is the original title of the work later known as Poesia all’Albero – was an extemporaneous intervention proposed by visual poet and curator Mirella Bentivoglio (Klagenfurt, 1922-Rome, 2017) alongside her official intervention, entitled L’Ovo. This article, therefore, examines the way in which Poesia all’albero manifests Bentivoglio’s brief incursion into the contemporary phenomenon of Arte Ambientale, of which the curator of Gubbio’76, Crispolti, was one of the main theorists. It is organised in three consequential sections. The first part briefly introduces key aspects of Crispolti’s theorisation and the way in which his ideas translated into the curation of Gubbio ’76. Drawing on Crispolti’s premises, the second section explores how Bentivoglio reconfigured the twodimensional and three-dimensional works and articulated her ideas to respond to the urban fabric of Gubbio in her two contributions to the event. The final section of the article focuses on Poesia all’albero specifically.