by Gianluca Marziani
The question seems simple: who are the most influential Italian artists in the American context? The answer can also be simple, if we limit the list to include only the giants that the world envies Italy for. If instead we want to test the influences on the present (at the moment that the events occur) or their influences beyond their giant status (in a context outside of their irreplaceable names), it is therefore necessary to define a suitable criterion, a measurement of incisiveness that doesn't stop with history or the market, but touches on the figurative conscience of the work, the background and backstage of the events, the hidden inspirations, and the deepest linguistic intuitions.
Imagine if Robert Rauschenberg hadn't come to Italy in the 1950s, where he saw the work of Alberto Burri, or if Cy Twombly hadn't discovered the works of Gastone Novelli in Rome, or even if Richard Serra hadn't lived through such significant experiences in Rome.
