This exhibition is dedicated to the Italian artist Carla Prina (1911-2008), one of the protagonists of 20th Century Italian Abstractionism.
Born in Como and trained between Milan and Rome, Carla Prina was a key figure of the Group of Abstractionists of Como, which emerged between the 1930s and the 1940s from the encounter of architects and artists inspired by the European avant-gardes. In 1942 she was present with the Como group in the Futurist Pavilion at the XXIII Venice Biennale and later in the Futurist Room at the 1943 Rome Quadriennale. Prina’s research was enriched by contacts with international artists such as Hans Arp, Sonia Delaunay, and Joan Miró, culminating in her experience at the Escuela de Altamira, which was crucial in defining her abstract language.
The exhibition features paintings created between the 1950s and the 1980s, along with a selection of archival materials. Initially influenced by Futurist dynamism, Prina's work evolved into free and lyrical compositions, characterised by chromatic and formal experimentation. Geometry understood as calculation and rigour gave way to more dreamlike forms, fluctuating between balance and structure.
This exhibition represents a precious opportunity to rediscover and celebrate the work of Carla Prina, one of the few women artists of the time to emerge in Abstractionism and to offer a unique point of view by enriching the abstract language with a profound poetic sensitivity.
