Ansa: Maria Lai returns to the USA, threads and canvases retrace the journey

November 16, 2024

Maria Lai "Telaio," c. 1971-1975. Wool, wood, acrylic, leather, fur, and cloth on canvas. Photo by Marco Anelli and Tommaso Sacconi. Courtesy Magazzino Italian Art, Cold Spring, NY. Courtesy © 2024 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome.

Maria Lai returns to the United States and canvases, threads and looms retrace the journey of an artist who was a key figure in Italian art in the second half of the twentieth century.

Magazzino Italian Art presents 'Maria Lai.

A Journey to America' (November 15, 2024 - July 28, 2025), the first retrospective in the US dedicated to her, which with about one hundred works retraces a career spanning the tradition of her native Sardinia, Arte Povera and the influence of American culture on the international art scene.

Curated by the artistic director of Magazzino Paola Mura, the exhibition offers a rich overview of the production of the artist who died in 2013 at the age of 93, from her debut in the 1950s to the 2000s, with a focus on her experimentation in collective and relational art.