Quadreria 2050,MACRO – Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome 2021 – 2023

Quadreria 2050 (2020) is an installation conceived by the artist Franco Mazzucchelli and commissioned by MACRO for the museum’s former café. The work, composed of over 80 inflatable black canvases, imitates the historic 1971 installation at Anny di Gennaro, a jewellery boutique in Milan, which consisted of Bieca Decorazione inflatable works covering the walls of the entire space. Creating a soft architecture, the jet-black sculptures functioned to absorb light and exude the tactical opulence of stitched cushions.

Franco Mazzucchelli uses the term bieca decorazione (pure decoration) self-deprecatingly to narrate the logic behind the painting as pure aesthetic enjoyment and its connection to the business logic. The artist reassesses this hangable artefact by emphasizing its sculptural and “inflatable” value, through the use of PVC.

Franco Mazzucchelli (Milan, 1939) – A pioneer in the use of synthetic materials, Mazzucchelli has been working in public space since the early 1960s, creating large environmental installations and inflatable objects that acquire unexpected social roles through interaction with the public. His production ranges from art destined to be abandoned (Art to Abandon) to inflatable canvases known as Bieca Decorazione. In 2020 he was part of EDITORIALE the Museum for Preventive Imagination’s exhibition that opened the new museum’s programme.

Franco Mazzucchelli, “Quadreria 2050”, 2020, PVC, air, wood structure, site specific installation comprised of inflatable paintings; installation view at MACRO, Rome

All photos by Agnese Bedini e Melania Dalle Grave of DSL Studio