Claudio Costa, Macchina Alchemica, 1986, 155 × 129 cm, Edition of 35
Courtesy of Archivio Conz, Berlin
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The edition is a silkscreened motif on individually pre-worked cloth.
- Claudio Costa (Tirana, Albania, 1942 – Genoa, Italy, 1995) was a prominent figure in the Italian avant-garde scene of the 1970s, working across genres ranging from Arte Povera to alchemical art. While working at Atelier 17 in Montparnasse, he encountered Marcel Duchamp, by whom he was significantly influenced. In 1969, Costa displayed his work in his first solo exhibition at Galleria La Bertesca in Genoa. In 1975, together with Aurelio Caminati, Costa founded the Museum of Active Anthropology in Monteghirfo, Genoa. Located inside an abandoned but intact farmhouse, where it was still possible to collect ancient agricultural artefacts, the artist duo catalogued and recovered a trace of rural culture removed by the advance of industrialized society. Following his participation in several exhibitions in Germany, Costa was invited to participate in documenta 6 in Kassel in 1977. In the 1980s, he returned to painting, symbolism, primitivism, and shamanism inspired by Joseph Beuys. The artist has exhibited at the Biennale di Venezia (1972, 1986), the Biennale de Paris (1973), the Palazzo Reale in Milan (1974), and the Museo Vostell Malpartida (1978), among many other venues.