Italian art of the second half of the 20th century and the course of Italian pop culture through the works of artists of the mid-1960s. The creations of Valerio Adami, Franco Angeli, Enrico Bai, Lucio del Pezzo, Gianfranco Pardi, Mario Schifano and Emilio Tandini have been used for social and cultural activism. This is the theme of the exhibition “Art Factor – Pop Heritage in Post-War Italian Art”, which runs until February 3 in a specially designed room of the Italian Educational Institute in Athens.

The exhibition, which has also traveled to other countries, is the second phase of an initiative launched in 2020 by the BFF Banking Group with the publication of a special volume of the same name. Since the 1980s, the group has collected about 250 works. Shortly before the completion of the exhibition cycle in Greece, the curator Maria Alicata and director of the Greek branch of the BFF Christ Theodosioutalk about the selection of exhibits and the Italian post-war period.

Maria Alicata: The ART FACTOR initiative is a tribute to the Italian art of the second half of the 20th century and the course of Italian pop culture, reflected in the works of Valerio Adami, Franco Angeli, Enrico Bai, Lucio del Pezzo, Gianfranco. Pardi, Mario Schifano and Emilio Tandini. The symbolism behind the work of these artists is essentially an attempt to capture social and cultural activity through art. In the post-war period, these artists are characterized by a great desire to bring innovation to the fore, using the international “language” of art, while remaining true to their history and identity.

Christos Theodosiou: Our exhibition reflects our desire to actively participate in initiatives that benefit society, proving that entrepreneurial spirit and devotion to the art are two axes that can really be combined. All works in the exhibition come from our private collection of over 250 works dating from the post-war period to the early 2000s. Works collected by the BFF since the 80s. After digitizing and cataloging all the works, we launched the ART FACTOR initiative, initially by publishing a volume entitled: “ART FACTOR – A legacy of pop music in post-war Italian art”, and now with a traveling exhibition of the same name, which from December 1, 2022 to February 3, 2023 takes place at the Italian Educational Institute in Athens, already presented in other European cities such as Bratislava and Warsaw.

Maria Alicata: The BFF group has focused on contemporary art from the very beginning, choosing works from the post-war period. The reason is that the works created during this period show us that the artists wanted to provide an opportunity to start a dialogue with an emphasis on different categories of creative expression. We chose the period under review because it was an important moment in pop culture, represented in Italy by many outstanding artists who, thanks to their significant contribution to the development of a new artistic aesthetic, managed to raise the prestige of Italian art internationally. A typical example is Emilio Tandini, whose work is based on images that create a narrative flow, as if someone is reading a book. Another example is Mario Schifano, who experimented with transferring a television image onto a special light-sensitive canvas, which was then treated with industrial enamel. We believe that such artists are unique not only in terms of technique, but also because they represent an important moment in world history through a symbolic narrative that also has perspective.

Maria Alicata: The main idea of ​​the ART FACTOR initiative is to highlight a certain period of history that is deeply rooted in Italian traditions and wider Italian culture, and at the same time fully consistent with the international general context of pop culture. In addition, through the work of these artists, we want to show the public that what is created with the local dimension of things in mind can also acquire an international perspective and be transmitted in the same way in different cultures. This is an exhibition for everyone. The audience will have the opportunity to meet many artists – widely known at the international level. Our desire is to highlight art and culture as a driving force in the development of society.

Christos Theodosiou: Our decision to create this exhibition and visit it in major European cities is due to our desire to promote Italian culture abroad, start a dialogue, and also further strengthen the international character of the BFF, which currently operates in nine European countries. The initiative aims to encourage visitors to explore important aspects of post-war Italian art history. In addition, thanks to the space of the Italian Educational Institute, our exhibition acquires an educational character, as many schools and students have already visited it, uniting Greek and Italian culture.

Italian Educational Institute of Athens
Patision 47
From 10:00 to 17:00