Tragicomic. Perspectives on Italian Art from the Second Half of the Twentieth Century to Today

Published on the occasion of the exhibition at MAXXI, this volume offers an in-depth exploration of contemporary Italian art and culture, reinterpreted through the lens of the tragicomic.

The book comprises around twenty essays by renowned authors selected by a specially appointed scientific committee. This chorus of voices and experiences from various fields – including theatre, cinema, philosophy, literature, and architecture – paints a multifaceted portrait of Italian creativity from the 1940s to the present, offering insights and new avenues for reflection.

This rich collection of original essays is punctuated by over two hundred images: from minimalist illustrations accompanying the critical essays to photographs documenting the one hundred and forty artists exhibited at MAXXI, the volume charts a new map of contemporary Italian art. Historicized artists well-known to the general public stand alongside less familiar names that this important research aims to contextualize and promote.

The result is an essential study manual, a tool for describing our country in light of what Agamben called "the anti-tragic intention," an entirely Italian capacity to confront present adversities with irony.