Page 59 - Studio International - October 1966

figuration, a mélange of cultural odds-and-ends, literary
allusions, and 'puns' based on spelling, transcription and
graphic-verbal metaphors. It would not be surprising if
this genre, which in a way revives in an entirely new way
the old 'descriptive' function of the art, should prove
capable of further development.
In this connexion, 'visual poetry' and 'concrete poetry'
should not be forgotten. Though the main interest of the
latter lies in its graphic-literary aspect, the first certainly
belongs to the visual arts. Many poets of the young
generation, Pignotti, Miccini, Ori, Ziveri, Isgro —and
especially, those based on Florence, Genoa and Turin—
have achieved some success with compositions in which
the written word joins with the image (often taken from
newspapers or posters) and completes it.
In Italy, as elsewhere, abstract and figurative tendencies
still alternate, with abstract tendencies predominating.
But more and more interest is focussed on 'technological'
art-works in which painting and sculpture are allied with
architecture and industrial design and acquire in the pro-
cess some of the characteristics of their expressive forms.

Above left Gianni Emilio Simonetti
Go, God, Good 1965
Mixed-media collage
26 3/4 x 20 in.

Left Enrico Baj
Lady sensitive to the weather
Fabric collage
39 1/4 x 32 in.
Winning entry for the 1966 Ascher Award

Below Eugenio Miccini
Visual poetry 1964