100th anniversary of the birth of major art brut artist

The first monographic museum exhibition in the United States of the work of Carlo Zinelli is on view at the American Folk Art Museum (2 Lincoln Sq., Columbus Avenue between 65th and 66th Streets).  Titled Carlo Zinelli (1916‒1974), this survey presentation brings together fifty-five artworks – often double-sided ‒ from private collections and museums including the American Folk Art Museum, Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne, Switzerland, the Fondazione Culturale Carlo Zinelli, Verona, and the collection of Audrey B. Heckler, New York.  The exhibition, which also includes images never before shown in the U.S. by Life magazine photographer John Phillips (1914-1996), an audio interview with Zinelli, a new film, and archival documents, will close on August 20, 2017. It is organized by Valérie Rousseau, PhD., Curator, Self-Taught Art and Art Brut at the American Folk Art Museum. 

 “Carlo Zinelli is a leading art brut figure. His work has been collected and honored in Europe for many years, but Zinelli did not have a major museum exhibition in the United States until now,” says Dr. Anne-Imelda Radice, Executive Director of the American Folk Art Museum. “We hope that those who love art brut, self-taught art, outsider art–by whatever name, will visit the museum and learn to appreciate the genius of Carlo Zinelli.”

Unlike his contemporary, Eugen Gabritschevsky (whose work is being shown concurrently at the American Folk Art Museum), Carlo Zinelli was born into humble circumstances and left school early to work on a farm in his native Italy.  As a young man he joined the military (the Alpini) and was later drafted to fight with General Franco‒an experience that jolted his psyche. After he returned from Spain, shell-shocked, his speech was affected and he had increasing difficulty in being understood. Facing serious mental health issues, he was sent to a psychiatric hospital in Verona in 1947, where he stayed for the rest of his life.  After a few attempts making terracotta sculptures, Zinelli made his first paintings in 1957, an activity that he pursued at a frenetic pace until a few years before his death.

According to Valérie Rousseau, “this exhibition wanted to highlight new scholarship on Carlo Zinelli, to provide an illuminating overview of his artistic practice‒its major phases and recurrent subjects‒to situate his production within a larger context, both anthropological and aesthetic.  For instance, the study of audio recordings allowed us to draw relevant observations between Zinelli’s speech and the written elements scattered through the majority of his works.” 

An exhibition brochure, with essays by Dr. Rousseau and Anic Zanzi, curator of the Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne, will accompany the exhibition.

Public programs at the museum will explore the artist’s life and work, notably:

Dialogue and performance on art and mental health: Inner Worlds

The program explores historical and contemporary examples of artists living with mental illness. Moderated by Tina Kukielski, executive director of Art21, this program will include presentations by Dr. Thomas Roeske (Prinzhorn Collection, Heidelberg, Germany) and Dr. Janos Marton (the Living Museum, Queens, New York), two scholars working at the intersection of art and mental health.  The discussion will be followed by a theatrical performance by Philippe Ungar about Swiss artist Aloïse Corbaz.

$8 members, students, and seniors; $10 non-members; free for artists

Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 6:30–9:30 pm

Dialogue + Studio: Calligraphy with Anna Pinto. Participants will learn the fundamentals of calligraphy and learn two styles of script. Limited to 20 participants.

$10 members, seniors, and students; $15 non-members

June 20, 2017, 6:30–8:30 pm

The exhibition is supported in part by Joyce Berger Cowin, the David Davies and Jack Weeden Fund for Exhibitions, the Ford Foundation, Janssen Research & Development LLC, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.  The museum would like to thank the Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne, the Fondazione Culturale Carlo Zinelli and Comune Di San Giovanni Lupatoto, Verona, and Audrey B. Heckler, New York, for their generous support of the exhibition.

For more information, please visit www.folkartmuseum.org