Genoa, Galleria La Bertesca, July 1968 – July 1970, 8 issues, 28 × 22 cm. “In July 1968, Pallone, the magazine of the La Bertesca gallery in Genoa, offers an important example of a publication entirely managed by the artists themselves. From the cover onward, texts and images by Renato Mambor, Paolo Icaro, Pier Paolo Calzolari, and Emilio Prini appear, following one another according to the most diverse associations and styles, from statements of poetics to epistolary exchanges. In the magazine there is no unified aesthetic or graphic research, but rather the creation of an editorial space in which a community of artists recognizes itself in a convivial, intimate representation, founded on the bonds of a group that is taking shape between Rome, Turin, and Genoa. Inside, a collage of images shows, among others, Jannis Kounellis and Mario Merz, Piero Gilardi, Daniela Palazzoli, and Germano Celant, while the caption speaks of art, marriages, and trips taken together.“ (Giuliano Sergio, «Forma rivista», PALINSESTI n. 1, 2011; pag. 89).
[Bibliography: Lauf 2018: pp. 10-15, pag. 129; Giorgio Maffei - Peterlini 2005; pp. 101 e 128, sono menzionati soltanto 6 degli 8 fascicoli.].
List of the issues:
- [n-1] Pallone. Genova – luglio ’68, Genoa, La Bertesca, [Printed by: Tipografia artisti tipografi], 28.8 × 21.5 cm, pp. 10–[2] including covers, 41 illustrations with black-and-white photographic images. Texts by: Renato Mambor (“Small Manifesto of a Need,” “Unrealized Project – Note on the Poster”), Nanni Cagnone (“Voiceless Provocation” and others), Paolo Icaro (“My Eye,” “Clinical Records,” “Mambor” and others), Emilio Prini (“MA/LI/DU/K/POL/WA” and others), Paolo Calzolari. “Pallone was published during Prini’s first solo exhibition at La Bertesca. For the occasion, the artist contributed MA/LI/DU/K/POL/WA (“everything diverts and reveals at the same time”), a work that, in a fragmentary style, juxtaposes notes from a personal diary composed of statements, travel notes, actions, memories, and projects. Three illustrations show Prini alongside his installation of large photographs and lead weights, creating a play of image-within-image. Dynamic and blurred, the photographs depict the artist’s everyday actions: Prini climbing stairs, jumping, and walking through the city streets [fig. 11]. This is a mise en abyme, an intimate measurement of the artist, his image, and his body: “I have prepared a self-portrait of weight and dimensions determined,” Prini writes in one of his notes, “the weight of my naked body rendered in lead.” It is a self-portrait articulated through image and installation, the account of a quotidian life devoid of teleology, yet revealing intimate tensions, physical and mental dynamics—freeing the artist from any creative strategy to reach the light atemporality of a fable: “I haveprepared a trap for Alice in Wonderland,” Prini warns us on the following page.”
- [n. 2]: Gianni Emilio Simonetti – Il corpo il suo d’intorno, anche. “Notes, annotations, and scattered objects on the art of swimming in a schizophrenia as epiphany of its model”, [printed by Rotary e Artisti Tipografi – Genoa], March 1969, pp. 20 unnumbered including covers. Front and back covers illustrated with a single détourned image in green; the same image is reproduced in green on the inside front and back covers (copies also exist with inverted colors). Contains 9 black-and-white images and 1 green image reproduced in the text, with text printed in black and green. Layout and design by F.E. Rossi [actually Franco G. Rossi]. Texts by Tommaso Trini, Daniela Palazzoli, Jan van der Marck, Thereza Bento Gomes Dos Santos, and Gianni Emilio Simonetti. Edition of 1,500 copies. Second issue of the magazine Pallone and the original catalogue for the exhibition of Enrico Simonetti (Genoa, Galleria La Bertesca, March 1969).
- [n. 3] Pallone May 1969 / Renato Mambor, Genoa, Galleria La Bertesca, [May] 1969, pp. [12] including covers. Illustrated cover with a black-and-white photomontage, 4 full-page black-and-white photographic images of Renato Mambor (photographs by Silvio Pasquarelli). Issue entirely dedicated to Renato Mambor.
- [n. 4]: Arte Povera 1967/69, June 1969: cover with titles in black on a white background, staple-bound paperback, 26 sheets in white, yellow, and blue printed on the recto only, including the cover. Contains 23 reproductions of works and photographic portraits of the artists: Giovanni Anselmo, Alighiero Boetti, Paolo Icaro, Mario Merz, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Emilio Prini, and Gilberto Zorio. Texts by Germano Celant. Includes biographical notes and a list of exhibitions for each artist. Issue published on the occasion of the exhibition (Genoa, Galleria La Bertesca, 25–30 June 1969).
- [n. 5]: Yves Laloy – Renato Mambor– Mikulas Medek – André Masson – Momenti di Vita, May/June 1969: cover with titles in black on a white background, staple-bound paperback, 23 sheets printed on the recto only, including the cover, 6 reproductions of works. Issue mainly dedicated to the exhibition of André Masson (18–21 June 1961), with the reproduction of 2 drawings, a list of solo exhibitions, a detailed biography and life chronology, and a short essay by Janus. Other exhibitions: Yves Laloy (April 1969), with the reproduction of one work and André Breton’s text Surrealism and Painting: Yves Laloy; Renato Mambor (May 1969), with a list of solo and group exhibitions. No information on Mikulas Medek. No reference traceable to the mention “Momenti di Vita.” Includes an index of La Bertesca exhibitions up to June 1969 (Arte Povera exhibition), 1 drawing by Vasarely (Anadyr 11, 1956/59), 1 drawing by Fortunato Depero (Capri, 1917), and a list of the 8 editions published by the gallery.
- [n. 6]: Claudio Costa – Roberto Maini, July 1969: cover with titles in black on a white background, staple-bound paperback, 20 sheets printed on the recto only, including the cover; 1 photomontage/self-portrait and 3 black-and-white photographic images, along with two reproductions of typewritten textswith autograph notes by Corrado Costa; 1 black-and-white photographic portrait, a green reproduction of an autograph text, and 6 reproductions of works by Roberto Maini.
- [n.7]: Pallone – Informazioni, Edizioni Masnata/Trentalance, November/December 1969: cover with titles in black on a grey background, perfect-bound paperback, 32 sheets printed on the recto only on uncoated and coated paper in white, yellow, and blue; various drawings and photographic images in the text, including one in color (Margo, L’œuf de Colombe, 1969). Design and layout by Franco G. Rossi. Texts by Carl Laszlo (“Grützke”); Gianni Emilio Simonetti (“Area Condizionata, Potpured. From Flash Art no. 12” and “PROjetACTION about Idea.real S.culture”); Tommaso Trini Castelli (“Margo” and “Fragment of a Recorded Dialogue between Tommaso Trini and Claudio Costa”); Claudio Costa (“Globus”); Germano Beringheli (“Letter to Costa”); Franco G. Rossi (“Project for a Table”).
- [n. 8]: Pallone, Edizioni Masnata, n.d. [July 1970]: illustrated cover with title printed sideways, perfect-bound paperback, 36 sheets printed on the recto only, 5 coated-paper pages hors-texte, 17 reproductions of works, including 1 in green and 1 in black on packing paper, by Luisella Carretta, Claudio Costa, Jannis Kounellis, Dieter Hacker, Lucio Fontana, Giulio Turcato, and Renato Mambor. Texts by Daniela Palazzoli, Gianni Emilio Simonetti (“Abstract Relations,” “Telegramma Galleria Bonino,” “The Nine-Ten Train”), Vincenzo Agnetti, FG12570, Rodolfo Vitone, and Germano Beringheli. Includes a list of La Bertesca Gallery’s activities from 30 January to 23 July 1970.
Genoa, Galleria La Bertesca, July 1968 – July 1970, 8 issues, 28 × 22 cm. “In July 1968, Pallone, the magazine of the La Bertesca gallery in Genoa, offers an important example of a publication entirely managed by the artists themselves. From the cover onward, texts and images by Renato Mambor, Paolo Icaro, Pier Paolo Calzolari, and Emilio Prini appear, following one another according to the most diverse associations and styles, from statements of poetics to epistolary exchanges. In the magazine there is no unified aesthetic or graphic research, but rather the creation of an editorial space in which a community of artists recognizes itself in a convivial, intimate representation, founded on the bonds of a group that is taking shape between Rome, Turin, and Genoa. Inside, a collage of images shows, among others, Jannis Kounellis and Mario Merz, Piero Gilardi, Daniela Palazzoli, and Germano Celant, while the caption speaks of art, marriages, and trips taken together.“ (Giuliano Sergio, «Forma rivista», PALINSESTI n. 1, 2011; pag. 89).
[Bibliography: Lauf 2018: pp. 10-15, pag. 129; Giorgio Maffei - Peterlini 2005; pp. 101 e 128, sono menzionati soltanto 6 degli 8 fascicoli.].
List of the issues:
- [n-1] Pallone. Genova – luglio ’68, Genoa, La Bertesca, [Printed by: Tipografia artisti tipografi], 28.8 × 21.5 cm, pp. 10–[2] including covers, 41 illustrations with black-and-white photographic images. Texts by: Renato Mambor (“Small Manifesto of a Need,” “Unrealized Project – Note on the Poster”), Nanni Cagnone (“Voiceless Provocation” and others), Paolo Icaro (“My Eye,” “Clinical Records,” “Mambor” and others), Emilio Prini (“MA/LI/DU/K/POL/WA” and others), Paolo Calzolari. “Pallone was published during Prini’s first solo exhibition at La Bertesca. For the occasion, the artist contributed MA/LI/DU/K/POL/WA (“everything diverts and reveals at the same time”), a work that, in a fragmentary style, juxtaposes notes from a personal diary composed of statements, travel notes, actions, memories, and projects. Three illustrations show Prini alongside his installation of large photographs and lead weights, creating a play of image-within-image. Dynamic and blurred, the photographs depict the artist’s everyday actions: Prini climbing stairs, jumping, and walking through the city streets [fig. 11]. This is a mise en abyme, an intimate measurement of the artist, his image, and his body: “I have prepared a self-portrait of weight and dimensions determined,” Prini writes in one of his notes, “the weight of my naked body rendered in lead.” It is a self-portrait articulated through image and installation, the account of a quotidian life devoid of teleology, yet revealing intimate tensions, physical and mental dynamics—freeing the artist from any creative strategy to reach the light atemporality of a fable: “I haveprepared a trap for Alice in Wonderland,” Prini warns us on the following page.”
- [n. 2]: Gianni Emilio Simonetti – Il corpo il suo d’intorno, anche. “Notes, annotations, and scattered objects on the art of swimming in a schizophrenia as epiphany of its model”, [printed by Rotary e Artisti Tipografi – Genoa], March 1969, pp. 20 unnumbered including covers. Front and back covers illustrated with a single détourned image in green; the same image is reproduced in green on the inside front and back covers (copies also exist with inverted colors). Contains 9 black-and-white images and 1 green image reproduced in the text, with text printed in black and green. Layout and design by F.E. Rossi [actually Franco G. Rossi]. Texts by Tommaso Trini, Daniela Palazzoli, Jan van der Marck, Thereza Bento Gomes Dos Santos, and Gianni Emilio Simonetti. Edition of 1,500 copies. Second issue of the magazine Pallone and the original catalogue for the exhibition of Enrico Simonetti (Genoa, Galleria La Bertesca, March 1969).
- [n. 3] Pallone May 1969 / Renato Mambor, Genoa, Galleria La Bertesca, [May] 1969, pp. [12] including covers. Illustrated cover with a black-and-white photomontage, 4 full-page black-and-white photographic images of Renato Mambor (photographs by Silvio Pasquarelli). Issue entirely dedicated to Renato Mambor.
- [n. 4]: Arte Povera 1967/69, June 1969: cover with titles in black on a white background, staple-bound paperback, 26 sheets in white, yellow, and blue printed on the recto only, including the cover. Contains 23 reproductions of works and photographic portraits of the artists: Giovanni Anselmo, Alighiero Boetti, Paolo Icaro, Mario Merz, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Emilio Prini, and Gilberto Zorio. Texts by Germano Celant. Includes biographical notes and a list of exhibitions for each artist. Issue published on the occasion of the exhibition (Genoa, Galleria La Bertesca, 25–30 June 1969).
- [n. 5]: Yves Laloy – Renato Mambor– Mikulas Medek – André Masson – Momenti di Vita, May/June 1969: cover with titles in black on a white background, staple-bound paperback, 23 sheets printed on the recto only, including the cover, 6 reproductions of works. Issue mainly dedicated to the exhibition of André Masson (18–21 June 1961), with the reproduction of 2 drawings, a list of solo exhibitions, a detailed biography and life chronology, and a short essay by Janus. Other exhibitions: Yves Laloy (April 1969), with the reproduction of one work and André Breton’s text Surrealism and Painting: Yves Laloy; Renato Mambor (May 1969), with a list of solo and group exhibitions. No information on Mikulas Medek. No reference traceable to the mention “Momenti di Vita.” Includes an index of La Bertesca exhibitions up to June 1969 (Arte Povera exhibition), 1 drawing by Vasarely (Anadyr 11, 1956/59), 1 drawing by Fortunato Depero (Capri, 1917), and a list of the 8 editions published by the gallery.
- [n. 6]: Claudio Costa – Roberto Maini, July 1969: cover with titles in black on a white background, staple-bound paperback, 20 sheets printed on the recto only, including the cover; 1 photomontage/self-portrait and 3 black-and-white photographic images, along with two reproductions of typewritten textswith autograph notes by Corrado Costa; 1 black-and-white photographic portrait, a green reproduction of an autograph text, and 6 reproductions of works by Roberto Maini.
- [n.7]: Pallone – Informazioni, Edizioni Masnata/Trentalance, November/December 1969: cover with titles in black on a grey background, perfect-bound paperback, 32 sheets printed on the recto only on uncoated and coated paper in white, yellow, and blue; various drawings and photographic images in the text, including one in color (Margo, L’œuf de Colombe, 1969). Design and layout by Franco G. Rossi. Texts by Carl Laszlo (“Grützke”); Gianni Emilio Simonetti (“Area Condizionata, Potpured. From Flash Art no. 12” and “PROjetACTION about Idea.real S.culture”); Tommaso Trini Castelli (“Margo” and “Fragment of a Recorded Dialogue between Tommaso Trini and Claudio Costa”); Claudio Costa (“Globus”); Germano Beringheli (“Letter to Costa”); Franco G. Rossi (“Project for a Table”).
- [n. 8]: Pallone, Edizioni Masnata, n.d. [July 1970]: illustrated cover with title printed sideways, perfect-bound paperback, 36 sheets printed on the recto only, 5 coated-paper pages hors-texte, 17 reproductions of works, including 1 in green and 1 in black on packing paper, by Luisella Carretta, Claudio Costa, Jannis Kounellis, Dieter Hacker, Lucio Fontana, Giulio Turcato, and Renato Mambor. Texts by Daniela Palazzoli, Gianni Emilio Simonetti (“Abstract Relations,” “Telegramma Galleria Bonino,” “The Nine-Ten Train”), Vincenzo Agnetti, FG12570, Rodolfo Vitone, and Germano Beringheli. Includes a list of La Bertesca Gallery’s activities from 30 January to 23 July 1970.
