VENICE.- Perfectly aligning with the theme of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition, which explores different types of intelligence, including artificial intelligence, the visionary, unconventional, impetuous, and volcanic art of Mattia Moreni arrives at ACP - Palazzo Franchetti by Fondazione Calarota. Hosted in the fascinating spaces of the Second Noble Floor, this major exhibition, curated by Roberta Perazzini Calarota, features a selection of over 30 works, many of which are large-scale. The paintings on display trace the artist’s relentless research, from his Cubist-inspired experiments of the 1950s, through the great Informal Art period and the distinctive “Watermelons” cycle—which he presented in his dedicated room at La Biennale di Venezia in 1972—to an extensive exploration of the final phase of his work, focused on the “Humanoids”. With these works, starting as early as the 1980s, the artist carried out a lucid and intuitive reflection on the impact of technology and computing—referred to as “electronics” in the language of the time—on everyday life and artistic practice. His vision not only anticipated today’s debate on artificial intelligence but also made his work the first to engage with contemporary innovation. This cycle solidifies Moreni as a true forerunner, someone who grasped well in advance the trajectory—far from obvious at the time—that society would rapidly follow in the coming decades.

“Far from the useless academicisms that await even the boldest at every turn, Moreni lives intensely, totally, what for him is the pictorial adventure; and never has the term adventure been more fitting. His work questions and thus challenges itself at the only possible level of the current human condition.” (Michel Tapié, exhibition cat. XXX Venice Biennale, 1960, p. 103). The exhibition at ACP – Palazzo Franchetti highlights key moments in this “adventure,” offering the opportunity to admire undisputed masterpieces from Moreni’s oeuvre, such as A tutti i maldestri del mondo: Amitié (1960), presented at the Venice Biennale that year and referenced in Tapié’s quote above. This was the first painting in which the artist incorporated a written word into the composition. From this moment, Moreni developed his distinctive practice of integrating painted words directly onto the canvas to reinforce and enhance his acute reflections.

This journey underscores the contemporary relevance of Moreni’s research. “Objects and Things Think in Silence” is not a quote from a recent text on artificial intelligence but the title of a chapter from The Rational Absurd Because Necessary, the second volume of the artist's monologues published in 1989, following Fluid Ignorance from 1979. The exhibition dedicates considerable attention to the final phase of the artist's work, which focuses on the decline of contemporary society. This reflection dates back to his “Watermelons” cycle, interpreted both as a regression of the species in the man-computer dialectic and as a regression of painting itself. Moreni emerges as one of the most aware and explicit critics of an impending “regressive” fate and the threats posed by computerized civilization, which he believed would not spare the art world. In the painting Umanoide tutto computer via internet.. (All Computer Humanoid via Internet..) (1996), we read: electronics advancing / will prevent us from recognizing / so-called artists working / with computers with another mind for / another way of seeing: the revolution / of life without ideals. WHY? These reflections remain strikingly relevant today, offering a privileged perspective on the present from an artist whose finely tuned sensibility allowed him to interpret the historical significance of a revolution that, in his time, was only beginning.

Mattia Moreni was born in Pavia on November 12, 1920. He trained at the Albertina Academy in Turin, where his first solo exhibition was held at Galleria La Bussola in 1946. This marked the beginning of a successful exhibition career, which gained national prominence in the following years. In 1948, he participated in both the Rome Quadriennale and the Venice Biennale, where he would exhibit multiple times throughout his career. Between the early 1950s and mid-1960s, Moreni achieved definitive international recognition. A key moment was his 1952 association with the Gruppo degli Otto, which included Afro, Renato Birolli, Antonio Corpora, Ennio Morlotti, Giuseppe Santomaso, Giulio Turcato, and Emilio Vedova. Together, they participated in that year’s Venice Biennale, followed by a traveling exhibition in 1953, curated by the group’s theorist Lionello Venturi, which toured Hannover, Cologne, and Berlin. At the same time, Moreni continued to hold solo exhibitions and participated in major international shows such as the São Paulo Biennale (1954) and Documenta in Kassel (1955). During these years, he received numerous awards, including the gold medal from the Milan Provincial Council at the IX Premio Lissone (1953), the Perugina Prize at the Venice Biennale, the Golfo della Spezia Prize, and the Città di Spoleto Prize (1954). Following the advice of Michel Tapié, Moreni moved to Paris in 1956, where he stayed for a decade. In Paris, Tapié invited him to exhibit alongside Informel artists such as Burri, De Kooning, Dubuffet, Fautrier, Pollock, and Tobey, leading to his first solo show in Paris in 1957. Throughout the decade, he continued to hold solo exhibitions in Italy—Milan (1961), Turin, Genoa, Bologna, Rome (1962)—and abroad London, Paris (1960), Cologne (1961), Basel (1962), Vienna (1963). His first retrospective at the Kunstverein Hamburg (1964) was particularly significant. After leaving Paris, Moreni and his wife settled at “Calbane Vecchie” near Brisighella, a town in the Romagna region. There, he chose to distance himself from formal artistic circles while continuing to produce work intensely. It was in this cherished place that Moreni passed away on May 29, 1999.