ART SPOTLIGHT: CARDI GALLERY
Established in 1972 by Italian collector and passionate supporter of developing artists, Renato Cardi, the Milan-based Cardi Gallery has been fostering contemporary Italian art for decades.
Now headed by Renato’s son, Nicolo Cardi, the gallery—specialising in Italian modern, post-war, and contemporary art—continues to spread its cultural influence in Milan and abroad through exhibitions, museum loans, and art advisory services. In 2015, Cardi Gallery opened a new space in London, occupying a six-storey Georgian townhouse in Mayfair—a district that is a focal point of the European art scene.
Cardi Gallery Artists
Thanks, in part, to Renato Cardi’s initial collecting of works by artists such as Lucio Fontana, Cy Twombly, and Piero Manzoni early in their careers, Cardi Gallery presents a wide selection of modern and post-war contemporary masters. The collection spans much of the 20th century, from Arte Povera and Abstract Expressionism to Minimalism and contemporary conceptual art. Among the gallery’s roster are a number of key figures of the Italian Arte Povera movement, including sculptor Giovanni Anselmo, conceptual artist Alighiero Boetti, celebrated painter, performance artist, and theorist Michelangelo Pistoletto; and the group’s sole female member, the Italian artist Marisa Merz.
Cardi Gallery also represents several artists of the avantgarde Zero group. This includes, among others, the group’s German co-founder Heinz Mack, Günther Uecker—another early member, known for his tactile works made out of nails; Italian painter of disorienting monochromes, Enrico Castellani, and other key figures, including the creator of Spatialism, Lucio Fontana. The gallery also offers a wide selection of pioneering minimalists, including the Americans Carl Andre, Sol LeWitt, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, and Richard Serra, as well as French minimalist and conceptual artist Daniel Buren.
Alongside other big names of the 20th-century contemporary art canon—including Gutai artist Shozo Shimamoto, pop artist Andy Warhol, and kinetic artist Alexander Calder—Cardi Gallery also represents a new generation of Italian contemporary artists. Italian conceptual artist and filmmaker, Francesco Vezzoli is one of the youngest artists on the gallery’s roster. His major focus is film and video art examining contemporary film and TV culture through real and imaginary TV and film productions.
For more information go to: www.cardigallery.com