ARTISSIMA

Emilio Prini (Stresa, 1943 – Rome, 2016) was one of the most complex and enigmatic figures of his time. His appearance in the art world was a dazzling debut in 1967, contributing to the birth of one of the most influential art movements of the second half of the 20th century, Arte Povera. Germano Celant invited him to the seminal exhibition 'Arte Povera-Im Spazio' at the Galleria La Bertesca in Genoa, as well as all main exhibitions of the movement, and until 1974 he took part in the numerous most significant expositions of the time: 'Op Losse Schroeven', Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (1969); 'When Attitudes Become Form', Kunsthalle Bern (1969); 'Konzeption/Conception', Stadtisches Museum, Leverkusen (1969); 'Information', MoMA, New York (1970), 'Contemporanea', Villa Borghese, Rome (1973) - and then reduced his exhibition activity to a minimum, taking critical distance from the artistic practice of the moment. There are few documents on his work. There is no monograph or interview. The reason of this project, presented by ML fine art for Artissima, that Prini is still the movement’s great unknown.