In yesterday's post we mentioned the MACTE in Termoli in connection with a Nanda Vigo exhibition. This small museum of contemporary art has got its own compact archive and collection that also features LeoNilde Carabba's works.
Born in Monza in 1938 Carabba usually describes herself as a painter and a traveler who loves to explore uncharted territories and cross borders.
Carabba emerged in the lively Milanese art scene during the '60s, winning the support of key artists including Lucio Fontana, Hsiao Chin, Roberto Crippa, Enrico Baj, Giulio Turcato, Tancredi Parmeggiani, Jean Fautrier and Piero Manzoni.
In the early '60s, Carabba was influenced by Antonio Recalcati and Jean Dubuffet, and, in 1966, she started experimenting with light refractions, incorporating in her Op Art and geometrical paintings glass micro-spheres that added to her works an intense luminous quality that varied in accordance with the point of view of the public. Throughout the '60s Carabba focused on minimalist yet mesmerising geometrical textures.
Carabba showcased her works in collective exhibitions throughout the '60s and in a personal show in Milan in 1967. Then, in 1969, she collaborated with architectural practice Studio Salvati and Tresoldi and, in the same year, she took part in the collective exhibition "Dal Segno all'Oggetto" (From the Sign to the Object), at the Galleria Cadario in Caravate, curated by Walter Schönenberger.
The event was divided in two sections headed by two masters, Lucio Fontana and Bruno Munari, and included 35 artists whose works were inspired by them. So while Getulio Alviani, Enrico Baj, Agostino Bonalumi and Lucio Del Pezzo were among Fontana's disciples, Enrico Castellani, Mario Ceroli, Ugo La Pietra, Mario Schifano, Ettore Sordini, Arturo Vermi and LeoNilde Carabba represented Munari's pupils.
During the '70s Carabba became very active in the Movimento delle Donne (Women's Movement) and co-founded the Women's Bookshop in Milan (Libreria delle Donne) and she moved on, leaving behind her geometries to start an alchemical journey. Since then she has explored themes inspired by the universe and in particular by seas, skies, trees, geological descriptions and symbols such as the Sacred Mountain, the Maze, the Sun, the Ziggurat, the Pyramid and the Mandala.
Carabba's most striking works remain the ones in which she played with geometries and used one motif to create iconic archetypes. Moving for example from the Phi (Φ; φ or ϕ), the 21st letter of the Greek alphabet, she created a series of paintings characterised by minimal yet visually striking patterns and geometrical textures.
Expect the fashion scene to rediscover Carabba's production from the mid-'60s: the more you look at some of her works from those years, the more you realise they wouldn't look out of place not just as prints on garments, but also as intarsia leather motifs on accessories by Prada, Maria Grazia Chiuri's Dior or Loewe.
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