After living for some time in Livorno, where she collaborated with an avant-garde theatre, Lucia Marcucci moved to Florence. Like most young talents in the 1960s, she started out with other artists and poets, with the Gruppo 70, the magazine Tèchne, and more specifically with the Gruppo internazionale di poesia visiva (“international visual poetry group”). She made contributions to many reviews (Arte Oggi, Il Portico, Nuova Corrente, La Battana, Lotta Poetica), all of which demonstrated the ideological commitment of their “artistic struggle”. Her collages and art objects were shown at a number of events, particularly at the International Art Biennale (Venice, 1978), in Florence, and in Rome. Marcucci’s work stands out through her unusual use of visual, gestural, and physical codes; the series Impronte e Paesaggi ("imprints and landscapes", 1976) uses body markings in an autobiographical manner. The slogans, symbols, images and colours - especially blacks and reds - in her compositions are the result of a playful, eye-catching, violent and vital creativity that she utilises as provocative processes - a global indictment of the tragedies affecting our world. Among her grievance themes: the commodification of women’s bodies and beauty, the profit motive, the Vietnam War and napalm bombs, hunger, and the exploitation of nature - such connections can be established through works like Semplice facile divertente ("simple, easy, fun", 1966), Io ti ex-amo ("I ex-love you", 1966), as well as a technological novel, Nove Stanze ("new stanzas", 1972), a visual essay, and a series of object/books (1983).
Enza BIAGINI
See this illustrated text on the website of the Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions
