Fabio Mauri: Gli anni dell’Aquila (The L'Aquila Years)

Fabio Mauri: Gli anni dell'Aquila, curated by Maurizio Cattelan and Marta Papini, is an exhibition organised by L'Aquila City Council and produced by MAXXI Museum, and is one of the most eagerly awaited projects as part of L'Aquila's designation as Italian Capital of Culture 2026.

The exhibition pays tribute, on the centenary of his birth, to Fabio Mauri an artist, writer and intellectual who was one of the most radical figures of the second half of the 20th century—and is on view at MAXXI L'Aquila until January 24, 2027.

The project takes its starting point from the bond that Mauri forged with the city and its inhabitants—from 1979 to 1999, he taught 'Aesthetics of Experimentation' at the Academy of Fine Arts—and explores some of the fundamental themes of his work: the allure of ideologies, the mechanisms of propaganda, the power of images and their ability to influence individual and collective consciousness.

Works, installations, photographs and performances thus constantly challenge the relationship between representation and power, calling into question the responsibility of both those who produce the images and those who view them. The viewer is never placed in a position of neutrality, but is called upon to confront the ambiguities, repressions and omissions of history.

This reflection, in a present marked by conflicts and ideological tensions, remains highly relevant and reaffirms the critical force and civic value of Mauri's work.

This tension is already foreshadowed by the poster chosen by the curators: an archive image showing the monumental silhouette of an eagle standing out against a Nazi military parade. Memory and politics overlap in a composition that links the iconography of power with the city's name, visually introducing some of the themes running through the exhibition.

At the heart of the exhibition itinerary lies Io sono un ariano, published in 2009 by Edizioni VOLUME!, the artist's latest publishing project, treated by the curators as a sort of autobiographical score—a diary composed solely of images that creates a timeline recounting the life and works of Fabio Mauri. Around this timeline, the arrangement of the works does not follow a chronological or philological order, but unfolds as a sequence of images constructed through visual associations, resonances and contrasts.

The project extends beyond the walls of Palazzo Ardinghelli to involve the wider city of L'Aquila. Leaving a permanent mark on the city are three manhole covers selected by Maurizio Cattelan and Marta Papini—situated in Piazza Duomo, Piazza Palazzo, and Via Verdi—interventions destined to become part of L'Aquila's urban landscape beyond the duration of the exhibition.

“Although conceived between forty and fifty years ago, the works on display tackle highly topical issues: Europe’s ambiguous and borderline position, the relationship between art and politics, memory and the repression of the atrocities of war, and the persuasive and fatal allure of fascist ideology. Mauri’s exploration of the image and the screen as instruments of power and persuasion is now more necessary than ever, as it questions our responsibility and complicity—as individuals and as a society—with the ideologies of yesterday and today,” state the curators Maurizio Cattelan and Marta Papini.