Arte Povera

The term Arte Povera was coined in 1967 by the critic Germano Celant to describe a group of Italian artists making work that used the simplest means to create poetic statements based on events of everyday life. Seen as a reaction against the commercialism of the art market and the dominance of American Minimalist and Pop art, the work demonstrated a keen hunger to explore new materials. In this illustrated survey, Robert Lumley provides a concise interpretation of Arte Povera informed by extensive interviews with the artists themselves.