Clemen Parrocchetti
Un orlo a giorno per il mio diario
(A hemstitch a day for my diary)
ChertLüdde, Berlin
Opening Reception: 10 September 2026, 6 – 10 pm
11 September – 24 October 2026

As part of Berlin Art Week, ChertLüdde presents Un orlo a giorno per il mio diario (A hemstitch a day for my diary), the second exhibition by Clemen Parrocchetti (Milan 1923–2016) at the gallery in Berlin.

A rebellious and nonconformist artist, Parrocchetti’s artistic practice was rooted in the radical Italian feminist movement that emerged in the 1960s. Using techniques traditionally associated with domestic labor, such as hemstitching and embroidery, her work with fabrics and other media confront issues of women’s subordination, including reproductive rights, divorce, domestic violence, and sexual liberation. This left a profound legacy, which still reverberates to this day, circulating with renewed attention across institutions.

The exhibition pinpoints feminist symbolism in Parrocchetti’s work, with a particular focus on the triangle, a recurring motif that appears in several of the works on display, from the triangular wooden screen containing soft textile sculptures, titled Triangolo rovesciato (Le Barriere) [Inverted Triangle (The Barriers)], to the mixed-media tapestry assembled using unique embroidery techniques, titled Telaio infranto (Il cuore della vita) [Broken Frame (The Heart of Life)], both from 1978. Looking at two decades of her work, the show portrays the female body while simultaneously protesting its subjugation.

Artist Biography

Clemen Parrocchetti (1923–2016, Milan, Italy) was a groundbreaking figure of the Italian landscape of feminist art in Italy in the 1970s. She operated in the most heated years of the movement, devoting her creativity to the service of women’s fight for equal rights.

Parrocchetti trained in painting at the Brera Academy, graduating in 1956. In the 1960s, her style evolved from existentialist realism to an abstract and surreal language. During the feminist movement of the early 1970s, she radically transformed her practice by incorporating textiles and household objects, especially through embroidery, finding her grammar in the materials of domestic labor—needles, spools, bobbins, cooking utensils, medicaments and textiles. In 1978, she joined the Gruppo Immagine of Varese, participating in the Venice Biennale that same year, with collaborations continuing through the 1980s.

Most recently, Parrocchetti’s work has been presented in institutional exhibitions at MOCAK – Museum of Contemporary Art, Krakow (2026); Museo del Novecento – Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence (2025), FRAC Lorraine, Metz (2025); LAAC – Contemporary Art and Action Museum, Dunkirk (2025); MAMbo – Museo d’Arte Moderna, Bologna (2025) and Ar/Ge Kunst, Bolzano (2024). Her work will be on view until 20th of September, 2026 at MAXXI – National Museum of 21st Century Art, Rome (2026).

In 2026, the monograph Clemen Parrocchetti was published by Dario Cimorelli Editore, edited by Marco Scotini.