Fancy making art from everyday things your mother tells you to put in the attic?

Or before she cleans up the mish mash to pack them into big garbage bags item wise? Arto povera does just that. In case you are wondering what Arto povera is, its nothing but a style of modern art that was introduced in Italy in 1960s. Michelangelo Pistoletto is one of the earlier interpreters of the movement. Taking inspiration from the post pop art and photorealism Pistoletto went further far. In 1962 he started painting on mirrors. Later on he started bringing rags and other abandoned stuff to his workshops and installations. Arto Povera literally means poor art. The term arto povera is believed to be coined by the Italian critic Germano Celant. Though arto povera did not take the Italian art scene by storm it had many artists attempting and successfully implementing the style in their works. Having taken cue from the movement artists like Alighiero Boetti, Luciano Fabro, Jannis Kounellis etc. innovated and formed new techniques to compliment the movement in a variety of angles. The style had various takers on many different genres of art. Later in the second half of the seventies Los Angeles new wave band Wall of Voodoo started using found objects for percussion. When you see our own Shivamani using kitchen pots and pans in his concerts think poor.

ARTE POVERA 7 May 5 September 2010 Venue - Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein Vaduz, Liechtenstein