English

01/12/2017 -

SuperDesign

, a film-documentary telling the story of the Italian Radical Movement, by Francesca Molteni with Maria Cristina Didero. From Emilio Ambasz to Andrea Branzi, Germano Celant, Ugo La Pietra, Alessandro Mendini and Gaetano Pesce – among the 19 well-known figures of the prolific season of the Italian design that reached its height between the Sixties and the Seventies – the documentary goes over the creation of one of the most important avant-garde movements in the history of design, bringing back to life an intense historical period 'when everything seemed possible'.

The radical movement was created in Italy in the '60s as a reply to the political fights and social tension characterising the historical context at the half of that decade. As a reply to such a climate, designers and entrepreneurs such as the Gugliermetto Brothers with

Gufram

, Giorgio Busnelli with

B&B Italia

or Poltronova, question the rationalism and functionalism that had characterized the production of the previous years, thus creating ironic and experimental objects borrowing the language of the American pop art or of the European artistic avant-garde movements.

'Looking at the works of these architects, designers and curators - says Francesca Molteni - walking with them through their cities alleys, listening to their revolutionary ideals, we find that the dreams, the utopias, the ideologies and the passion which have permeated their experience and their art are still alive nowadays.

Listening to our protagonists’ stories, our question is: What is left today, what is the Radical Movement’s heritage, in a historical period in which the speed of cultural change have resulted not only in a generalized conformity, but also in a loss of values and in the rise of populist parties and nationalist movements?'

The documentary will be accompanied by SuperDesign exhibition curated by Maria Cristina Didero. The exhibition is on view until January 4 2018 at R & Company Gallery in New York and showcases a capsule collection of visionary works, alongside a selection of rare archival drawings and photography.

'Creativity, in all its manifestations - tells Maria Cristina Didero - was deeply influenced by this demand for regeneration. Those active in fields such as art and architecture sought to overcome the boundaries of their disciplines and often joined forces to question the status quo with the aim of subverting the social, political, and visual culture of their time.'