MIMMO ROTELLA: Early Works 1954 -1967

The impact of Rotella as one of the pioneering artists of the 20th century is evidently present throughout contemporary landscapes of visual culture. Rotella's eye for "reporting" culture and commentary on cultural politics (through his canvases of torn down, then collaged posters from the streets of Rome) have made an immeasurable impact on the theoretical discourse surrounding modern artistic production techniques.  His work is famous in suggesting a concept of 'fresh vision' on accepted reality and poetic inspiration in what appears banal.

Ben Brown Fine Arts is pleased to present, for the first time ever exhibiting in London: Mimmo Rotella showing key works from 1954 - 1967. The show presents a scope of work that constitutes a testimony regarding artistic practices of the later half of the twentieth century through to present day.

In 1945 Rotella moved to Rome where his work had begun to experiment with pictorial expression of neo- geometrical matrix. In 1951 he exhibited in Paris at "Salon des Realistes Nouvelles". He then traveled to America where he was introduced to the protagonists of new currents such as Rauschenberg, Oldenburg, Twombly, Pollock and Klein. He returned to Rome where he began experimenting with what he called "Zen Illumination" this was what led to the discovery of the advertising poster as artistic expression and the origin of a language that Rotella is famous for creating: "décollage".