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Mimmo Rotella

Italian, 1918-2006

Mimmo Rotella was an Italian artist and poet who is best known for collages made from torn advertising posters in a medium that he called "double décollages."

Rotella was born on October 7, 1918, in Catanzaro, Italy, and studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Naples before moving to Rome in 1945. There, he became associated with the Lettrism movement and — along with Raymond Hains, Jacque Villeglé and François Dufrêne — became known as one of "Les Affichistes," an artist group credited as the forefathers of street art.

Rotella's first solo exhibition was held in 1951 in at the Galleria Chiurazzi in Rome, and later that same year, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship with which he traveled to Kansas City University. In 1961, he was invited by Pierre Restany to join the New Realism movement, whose members included Yves Klein, Arman and Jean Tinguely. In 1964, he represented Italy at the Venice Biennale. He died on January 8, 2006, in Milan, Italy, at the age of 87.

Find authentic Mimmo Rotella art on 1stDibs.

(Biography provided by Galerie Omagh)

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Creator: Mimmo Rotella
Mimmo Rotella, Marco Ferreri, Credenza Kennedy, ZeroDisegno, 2004, es. 1/99
By Mimmo Rotella, Zerodisegno, Marco Ferreri
Located in Rivoli, IT
Rara credenza della serie "decollage Kennedy" di Mimmo Rotella e Marco Ferreri, prodotta da ZeroDisegno in edizione limitata di 99 esemplari. Questo, l'esemplare 01/99, si presenta ...
Category

Early 2000s Italian Mimmo Rotella

Materials

Sheet Metal

Pair of Blue Murano Glass Flutes by Bisazza & Rotella, Italy 2000
By Bisazza Vetro, Mimmo Rotella
Located in Bresso, Lombardy
Made in Italy in 2000. These stem glasses are made in multicolored Murano glass and they are part of the collection "Tristano and Isotta" by Bisazza and Rotella. They are signed an...
Category

Early 2000s Italian Mimmo Rotella

Materials

Murano Glass

Mimmo Rotella Italian Original Signed Etching
By Mimmo Rotella
Located in Roma, IT
Original 2000s silkscreen print “Heros” by the great Italian avant-garde artist Mimmo Rotella. Signed in full at lower right. Original dry stamp “Stamperia Berardinelli Verona Italy” Original multiple collage type model on silkscreen on which the artist has made scratches. This work, never before on the market, comes from a private collection and is beautified by an impressive original frame in ebonized wood, in almost perfect condition. This work is also protected by glass Every item of our Gallery, upon request, is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Sabrina Egidi official Expert in Italian furniture for the Chamber of Commerce of Rome and for the Rome Civil Courts. Born in 1918 in Catanzaro into a middle-class family, in 1945 he moved to Rome where he frequented the young avant-garde made up of the exponents of Gruppo Forma 1 (Carla Accardi, Ugo Attardi, Pietro Consagra, Piero Dorazio, Mino Guerrini, Achille Perilli, Antonio Sanfilippo and Giulio Turcato). After his figurative beginnings and early experiments, he began to paint abstract-geometric pictures inspired by the works of Vasilij Kandinskij and Piet Mondrian. In 1950, he exhibited in Paris at the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles. In February 1951, he participated in the exhibition 'Abstract and Concrete Art in Italy - 1951' organised by Palma Bucarelli and Giulio Carlo Argan at the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome. In 1951 he was awarded a scholarship by the Fulbright Foundation, which allowed him to go to the United States as an 'Artist in Residence' at the University of Kansas City. In 1952, he held his second solo exhibition at the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art in Kansas City. For Harvard University, he completed a performance of epistaltic poetry. In the autumn he returned to Rome, devoting himself to phonetic production. In 1953, he realised that the pictorial medium was no longer a suitable medium for the expression of his poetics and suddenly had what he called a 'Zen enlightenment': the discovery of the advertising poster as an artistic expression. This is how décollage was born: Rotella took pieces of posters torn off the street from the walls of Rome and glued them to the canvas, then reworked them in the studio, adopting the collage of the Cubists and contaminating them with elements borrowed from an informal matrix close to Hans Arp and Jean Fautrier and with the Dadaist ready-made. Still in 1955, Carlo Cardazzo organised an exhibition entirely dedicated to décollage and retro d'affiches in his Galleria del Naviglio in Milan. His works are exhibited in London, at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA). In 1958 he took part in the exhibition 'New Trends in Italian Art' organised by Lionello Venturi at the Rome branch of the Rome-New York Art Foundation. The following year he met the French critic Pierre Restany, with whom he began a long association. In 1960 he joined the Nouveau Réalisme of which Pierre Restany was the theoretician and which brought together, among others, Yves Klein, Spoerri, Tinguely, César, Arman, Christo and Niki de Saint Phalle. Along with décollages, Rotella also executed assemblages and ready-mades with objects purchased from junk dealers such as bottle caps, ropes, wicker baskets and pieces of fabric. In May 1961 he exhibited in the historic exhibition À 40° au-dessus de Dada, curated by Restany at Galerie J in Paris. In 1962, the same French gallery hosted the series of works inspired by the world of cinema on the occasion of the 'Cinecittà' exhibition. His décollages from the early 1960s are characterised by the presence of stars of the silver screen and music such as Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor, Marlon Brando and Elvis Presley. During this last exhibition, his work was compared with artists from France (Arman, Christo, Raymond Hains, Yves Klein, Martial Raysse, Daniel Spoerri, Jean Tinguely), Italy (Enrico Baj, Gianfranco Baruchello, Tano Festa, Mario Schifano), and the USA (Peter Agostini...
Category

Early 2000s Italian Modern Mimmo Rotella

Materials

Paper, Wood

Mimmo Rotella Original Signed and Numbered Work on Paper
By Mimmo Rotella
Located in Roma, IT
Mimmo Rotella silkscreen printing Title “Marilyn The magnificent prey” Mimmo Rotella silkscreen print taken from the poster of the film "The magnificent prey" with Marilyn Monroe. The silkscreen is made in 125 copies. This is 45 out of 125. Dry stamp of the Mimmo Rotella Foundation and numbering at lower left. Signature at lower right. This artwork, never before on the market, comes from a private collection and is beautified by an impressive original frame in silvered wood, in almost perfect condition. This work is also protected by glass Every item of our Gallery, upon request, is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Sabrina Egidi official Expert in Italian furniture for the Chamber of Commerce of Rome and for the Rome Civil Courts. Born in 1918 in Catanzaro into a middle-class family, in 1945 he moved to Rome where he frequented the young avant-garde made up of the exponents of Gruppo Forma 1 (Carla Accardi, Ugo Attardi, Pietro Consagra, Piero Dorazio, Mino Guerrini, Achille Perilli, Antonio Sanfilippo and Giulio Turcato). After his figurative beginnings and early experiments, he began to paint abstract-geometric pictures inspired by the works of Vasilij Kandinskij and Piet Mondrian. In 1950, he exhibited in Paris at the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles. In February 1951, he participated in the exhibition 'Abstract and Concrete Art in Italy - 1951' organised by Palma Bucarelli and Giulio Carlo Argan at the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome. In 1951 he was awarded a scholarship by the Fulbright Foundation, which allowed him to go to the United States as an 'Artist in Residence' at the University of Kansas City. In 1952, he held his second solo exhibition at the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art in Kansas City. For Harvard University, he completed a performance of epistaltic poetry. In the autumn he returned to Rome, devoting himself to phonetic production. In 1953, he realised that the pictorial medium was no longer a suitable medium for the expression of his poetics and suddenly had what he called a 'Zen enlightenment': the discovery of the advertising poster as an artistic expression. This is how décollage was born: Rotella took pieces of posters torn off the street from the walls of Rome and glued them to the canvas, then reworked them in the studio, adopting the collage of the Cubists and contaminating them with elements borrowed from an informal matrix close to Hans Arp and Jean Fautrier and with the Dadaist ready-made. Still in 1955, Carlo Cardazzo organised an exhibition entirely dedicated to décollage and retro d'affiches in his Galleria del Naviglio in Milan. His works are exhibited in London, at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA). In 1958 he took part in the exhibition 'New Trends in Italian Art' organised by Lionello Venturi at the Rome branch of the Rome-New York Art Foundation. The following year he met the French critic Pierre Restany, with whom he began a long association. In 1960 he joined the Nouveau Réalisme of which Pierre Restany was the theoretician and which brought together, among others, Yves Klein, Spoerri, Tinguely, César, Arman, Christo and Niki de Saint Phalle. Along with décollages, Rotella also executed assemblages and ready-mades with objects purchased from junk dealers such as bottle caps, ropes, wicker baskets and pieces of fabric. In May 1961 he exhibited in the historic exhibition À 40° au-dessus de Dada, curated by Restany at Galerie J in Paris. In 1962, the same French gallery hosted the series of works inspired by the world of cinema on the occasion of the 'Cinecittà' exhibition. His décollages from the early 1960s are characterised by the presence of stars of the silver screen and music such as Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor, Marlon Brando and Elvis Presley. During this last exhibition, his work was compared with artists from France (Arman, Christo, Raymond Hains, Yves Klein, Martial Raysse, Daniel Spoerri, Jean Tinguely), Italy (Enrico Baj, Gianfranco Baruchello, Tano Festa, Mario Schifano), and the USA (Peter Agostini...
Category

1970s Italian Modern Vintage Mimmo Rotella

Materials

Paper, Wood

Sasso Table Lamp in Yellow and Grey by Mimmo Rotella, Venini
By Mimmo Rotella
Located in Milano, Lombardia
Biomorphe light sculpture in thick-walled glass with dimmer, clear glass with yellow, dab-like, irregular, close glass melting downs black opaquen. A luminous sculpture characterized...
Category

1950s Italian Modern Vintage Mimmo Rotella

Materials

Glass

21st Century Replicanti Table Lamp in Red by Mimmo Rotella
By Venini, Mimmo Rotella
Located in murano, IT
These works by Mimmo Rotella have squared heads and wear masks or goggles to clearly see the world around them. They observe it, with a seraphic, slightly sorrowful look on their fac...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mimmo Rotella

21st Century Replicanti Table Lamp in Sapphire by Mimmo Rotella
By Venini, Mimmo Rotella
Located in murano, IT
These works by Mimmo Rotella have squared heads and wear masks or goggles to clearly see the world around them. They observe it, with a seraphic, slightly sorrowful look on their fac...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mimmo Rotella

21st Century Sasso Table Lamp in Concrete/Grey/Straw-Yellow by Mimmo Rotella
By Venini, Mimmo Rotella
Located in murano, IT
As heavy as a rock but made from glass: Sasso is a colorful creation by Mimmo Rotella in tones of Straw Yellow, Grey and Concrete. A whimsical interplay of little colour spots, clash...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mimmo Rotella

Materials

Glass

GIANNI VERSACE Poster created by Mimmo Rotella for Mostra Dialogue du Mode, 1987
By Mimmo Rotella, Gianni Versace
Located in Milano, IT
Rara Locandina by Gianni Versace created by Mimmo Rotella for the exhibition held at the Palais Galliera, Musèe de la Mode et du Costume, in Paris. 198...
Category

1980s Italian Modern Vintage Mimmo Rotella

Materials

Paper

Mimmo Rotella for Zerodisegno Marilyn Monroe Bookcase
By Mimmo Rotella
Located in Pasadena, TX
Mimmo Rotella, (Italian, 1918-2006) "Marilyn, La Donna Piu Bella" open bookcase designed by Mimmo Rotella and made by Zerodesigno in 2004. Numbered from an edition of 99. Grap...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Mimmo Rotella

Materials

Zinc

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Mimmo Rotella furniture for sale on 1stDibs.

Mimmo Rotella furniture are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of paper and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Mimmo Rotella furniture, although brown editions of this piece are particularly popular. We have 3 vintage editions of these items in-stock, while there is 3 modern edition to choose from as well. Many of the original furniture by Mimmo Rotella were created in the modern style in italy during the 21st century and contemporary. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider furniture by Guglielmo Poletti, Paolo Ulian, and Costantino Corsini and Giorgio Wiskemann. Prices for Mimmo Rotella furniture can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $539 and can go as high as $9,418, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $5,355.
Questions About Mimmo Rotella
  • 1stDibs ExpertOctober 24, 2024
    To make his decollages, Mimmo Rotella sourced posters from the streets. He would remove these advertisements from walls and then rip them into pieces. He carefully reassembled them by gluing them onto canvas. Then, he would destroy the canvas and reassemble the pieces to create a new work. Rotella called these pieces his “double collages.” Shop a collection of Mimmo Rotella art on 1stDibs.

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