EARTH Foundation presents, from Wednesday 25 September 2024 to Saturday 1 March 2025, the exhibition Fortunato Depero. Sete di Futurismo, fame d’America. The exhibition project, realized in collaboration with the Mart, Museum of modern and contemporary art of Trento and Rovereto and with the University of Verona – Department of Culture and Civilization, is designed specifically for the spaces of the Specialized Cold Storage Station of Verona, Curated by Federico Zanoner and Luca Bochicchio.
The exhibition investigates the work of the famous painter, sculptor and designer Fortunato Depero (Fondo, 1892 – Rovereto, 1960). The project, which includes a wide selection from the futuristic heritage preserved at the Mart in Rovereto, traces the evolutionary arc of Depero’s artistic research from the Thirties to the Fifties, paying particular attention to themes related to the table, to the food and places of its consumption.
The exhibition gives a chronological account that begins in 1914, when Fortunato Depero meets the futurist movement in Rome. The “thirst for Futurism” accompanies the artist to Rovereto, where in 1919 he founded the Casa d’Arte Futurista Depero creating a total art incubator that extends from painting to applied and decorative arts. The exhibition shows the setting of the Cabaret del Diavolo in Rome in 1922 and the decoration of the Bar Bristol in Merano in 1924.
In the 1920s, with the emergence of advertising art, Fortunato Depero inaugurated a happy collaboration with several companies, including with Campari, where the artist brings to life the ironic creative fantasy that makes him famous and contributes to the international success of the iconic aperitif.
In 1928, Fortunato Depero arrives in New York, responding to the “hunger of America” that has been plaguing him for years. Immersed in the atmosphere of the Big Apple, characterized by fast-food, prohibition and banquets in skyscrapers, the artist is dedicated to decorating environments and restaurants, incorporating strategies to promote themselves and intercept commissions and business.
The artist’s return to Italy in 1930 leads to an explosion dedicated to the theme of food, observed both through the original illustrated recipes inspired by the futuristic cuisine of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and Fillìa, and with a return to more traditional motifs, such as the tavern scenes inspired by the Trentino context.
In 1928, Fortunato Depero arrives in New York, responding to the “hunger of America” that has been plaguing him for years. Immersed in the atmosphere of the Big Apple, characterized by fast-food, prohibition and banquets in skyscrapers, the artist is dedicated to decorating environments and restaurants, incorporating strategies to promote themselves and intercept commissions and business.
The artist’s return to Italy in 1930 leads to an explosion dedicated to the theme of food, observed both through the original illustrated recipes inspired by the futuristic cuisine of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and Fillìa, and with a return to more traditional motifs, such as the tavern scenes inspired by the Trentino context.
The exhibition ends in the fifties through other advertising experiences, among which stands out the intense collaboration with Cantine Cavazzani and with Braibanti, a company producing machinery for the processing of pasta.
The exhibition is completed by a corpus of documents drawn from the artist’s historical archive, including manuscripts, correspondences and printed material to accompany the works on display and accompany the visitor in a complete itinerary through the artistic and human story of one of the protagonists of the Italian art scene of the first half of the twentieth century.