PAPER FUTURISM Imagining the universe with the art of advertising

The exhibition, the second part of the exhibition dedicated to Futurism, curated by Elisabetta Pasqualin with the collaboration of Sabina Collodel, is dedicated to the years preceding the Second World War, when, between 1930 and 1940, Futurism reached the peak of its development, with aeropainting which , transposed into graphics, exalts flight and aviation feats, the view from above to reshape itself in the approach to surrealism.

The posters, and equally the painting, reflect the climate of the moment. In an Italy that is transforming from an agricultural to an industrial country, with the aeronautical and automotive industries at center stage.

The news emphasizes the solitary exploits of Italian aviators, the new popular heroes. The Italian wings beat every speed, distance and height record and become clear evidence of a new, powerful state, protagonist of the world scene. National pride is growing, carefully catalyzed by the propaganda of the fascist regime.

D'Annunzio's feat of flying over Vienna in 1918 remained in the collective memory no less than Francesco Baracca's legendary duels in the skies of Montello.

Italo Balbo made the "mass flight" to Brazil in 1931; in '33 it will be the turn of the Tenth Anniversary Air Cruise, the Rome-New York flight to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the regime, events also immortalized in the posters on display: Umberto Di Lazzaro, Marcello Dudovich, Luigi Martinati.

Naturally, the number of posters focusing on the theme of flight and aeronautical events is increasing. The exhibition also features the "Manifesto for the Italian aeronautical exhibition", a 1934 work by the only female artist present in the exhibition, Carla Albini.

The car-aircraft combination is reconfirmed as an expression of dynamism and speed. In the cars, trails of color, car circuits, zigzag and spiral lines.

The sky, the earth but also the water: motorboats speeding by leaving deep wakes and throwing high spray, propellers in the foreground (Codognato, Riccobaldi Del Bava).

Thanks to the push for sporting activities, the protagonist of many posters of this moment is the body in movement, as a dynamic tool: swimming, tennis, rugby (Mancioli. Boccasile).

The human figure is still interpreted in a modern key to personify the continuous innovations of the industry: the Fiat man by Nizzoli or the anthropomorphic mechanism of the Sniafiocco by Araca (Enzo Forlivesi), for example.

Even the human face often becomes the subject of affiche, decomposed in an almost cubist way, geometricized or made almost like a dream, as in the poster for Illy Caffè by Xanti). To propose a dreamlike and irrational vision, free from logical suggestions. And the graphics are already ready to move on."