Art Metropole

Apr. - 15 May 2004

MAURIZIO NANNUCCI

Not All At Once

As you stand in the exhibition space looking at the books and objects on display you slowly become awestruck as the magnitude of the achievement starts to sink in. The pieces ranging from artist’s books and ephemera to carefully crafted multiples and neon pieces reveal a consistency of vision that is staggering considering the fact that the work spans more than 35 years. When you do a little investigating you realize that what you are looking at is in fact a tiny fragment of the output of this prolific artist and publisher.

Since he started producing art in 1964 Maurizio Nannucci, who lives in Florence, Italy, has consistently used language as both the message and the medium. His work has taken many forms from typewritten pages, postcards, posters, artist’s books, multiples, anthologies, magazines, stickers, rubber stamps, embossers, shopping bags, pins, videos, records and CDs, to neon signs.

His neon pieces have been installed in museums and public spaces posing thought provoking statements such as: “Blending the visible with the invisible”, Rouen; “All art has been contemporary”, Turin; “More than meets the eye”, Vienna; “Where to start from”, Hannover; among others.

Nannucci the publisher has worked with an impressive list of artists including Kathy Acker, Ida Applebroog, Joseph Beuys, Daniel Buren, John Cage, Robert Filliou, General Idea, Philip Glass, Dick Higgins, On Kawara, Alison Knowles, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Sol Lewitt, Dieter Roth and Arnulf Rainer, Ed Ruscha, Ben Vautier, and others. In 1968, he founded “Exempla”, an artist’s book publishing house. “Recorthings”, established in 1974, was dedicated to the production of artist’s audio works and records. From 1974-1985, Nannucci was one of the promoters of the activities of “Zona”, an internationally famous non-profit art space in Florence. He is currently compiling a book about Artist-Run Organizations.

Our sincere thanks to Maurizio Nannucci for the generous loan of works for this exhibition.

Images

1: Neon Detail Not All At Once.
2: Installation view Not All At Once.

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