Magdalo Mussio was born in Volterra in 1925.

At the end of the II World War war he went back to his studies graduating in Florence with a thesis entitled I canovacci e la scenografia della Commedia dell'Arte.

He kept providing himself with a financial support working in different fields: from his first editorial experiences, film making and set design to more practical activities

We will see how this aptitudinal and eclectical legacy will accompany him for life even in its creative and artistic activity that will end up in what he called "operative connections".

From the late 1940's he matured his experiences within the entertainment world as he recalls: "I even directed: I realized Tennessee Williams with Fabbri".

He also carried out its activity in the field of visual arts making his debut in 1955 when, sponsored by Giuseppe Ungaretti, he exhibited in Florence at Galleria L'Indiano.

The period between 1955 and 1966 is characterized by numerous journeys abroad and important activities in the theatre sector.

During the stay in Canada he worked with Norman MacLaren for the National Film Boarding in Montreal contributing to experimental researches and production of animated cartoons, experiences that will enable him to develop an intense activity in the U.S. , France and England.

In regard of the scenography he realized Majakovskij e C. alla Rivoluzione d'Ottobre under the direction of Carlo Quartucci.

Back to Italy in the early Sixties, he was among the main protagonists of Gruppo 63 together with the circle of artists who, since the mid-fifties, has contributed to the evolution of Italian and international verbo-visual new avant-garde.

Called by Lerici Foundation in order to make documentary films, in 1963 he became editor-in-chief of Marcatrèmagazine for the publishing house Lerici based in Milan.

Within this professional path he was accompanied by some of the most vibrant personalities of the Italian cultural scene such as Eugenio Battisti, Germano Celant, Gillo Dorfles, Umberto Eco, Daniela Palazzoli.

In 1965 he became responsible for Marcatrè's graphic design; simultaneously he curated Marcalibri's series for which important intellectuals of the verbo-visual movement will publish: Ugo Carrega, Martino Oberto, Haroldo and Augusto de Campos, Decio Pignatari, Lamberto Pignotti and Emilio Isgrò among others.

He also gave to his creative activity a significant turning point quickly establishing himself as one of the early protagonists of the verbal-visual avant-garde that will get a great success throughout the decade Sixties / Seventies.

Mussio and the others pioneers active in Italy, including Cy Twombly, Gastone Novelli, Gianfranco Baruchello and Gianni Emilio Simonetti, pursued a pictographic approach that aimed to unify the "material forms" of painting with the values expressed by words and thoughts.

In terms of both human, philosophical and pictographic research, these artists were committed to rebuild an intense and authentic connection between art and life. This connection enhanced new ways of dealing with signs, words and images so as to opposing to mass media which intended to influence the audience.

In the late Sixties, Mussio moved to Macerata in order to work as an editor for the publishing house La nuova Foglio. From 1978, he became also editor-in-chief for the magazine "La città di Riga”.

From this moment on Mussio started working for Out of London Press Edition with the role of curator for the book series Altro.

Between Sixties and Seventies, words and signs nourished Mussio's boards with great intensity and in unpredictable ways. Progressing towards the end of the century graphic and verbal interventions became more laconic: they seek symbols or play with words transforming fragmented writings into alternative meanings.

Works' surface is enriched with innovative materials. Mussio, sometimes improvises or extracts materials, also for small panels, from contexts of everyday life.

The structure of Mussio's works was never repetitive: sometimes layered materials cover the entire lower surface at others time they spread in different areas.

Among Mussio's favourite colors there are white and black which alternate with appearances of gold, red, and others color that are obtainable only from nature such as rust and tannin.

A nature in which Mussio operates as a good "cartographer” searching through it at first to model its interventions and later to produce them.

Mussio's production proceeded , as his numerous exhibitions demonstrate, in the Nineties and Noughties.

At the time of his demise, apart from his artistic,publishing and film production, he left important video interviews. These interviews were filmed among others in his studio in Pollenza and in Civitanova, where he died on 12 August 2006.

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SOLO EXHIBITIONS

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1955

Galleria L'Indiano, Firenze

1967

Galleria Masnata, Genova

1972

Galleria Centoforme, Milano

1976

Magdalo Mussio, galleria Rosati, Ascoli Piceno

Magdalo Mussio, Galleria del Falconiere, Falconara

Scrittura come percezione estetica, Galleria del Falconiere, Falconara

Il corpo certo o il luogo della perdita, Galleria La Margherita, Porto Potenza Picena

1977

Su una lettera a Lady Welby per Magdalo Mussio, Mercato del Sale, Milano

Magdalo Mussio, Memoria artificiale, Galleria Vinciana, Milano

1978

Magdalo Mussio. Memoria artificiale, Galleria L'Indiano, Firenze

Lettera futura a Magdalo Mussio, Galleria del Falconiere, Falconara

Magdalo Mussio, Galleria La Vecchia Farmacia, Forte dei Marmi

Magdalo Mussio, Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Alessandria

1979

Magdalo Mussio, Studio Sant'Andrea, Milano

Magdalo Mussio. Ad personam, Galleria del Falconiere. Ancona

1980

Ismaele delle sacre scritture, Mercato del Sale, Milano 

1981

Magdalo Mussio, Galleria del Faconiere, Ancona

1982

Magdalo Mussio /Ad Personam- De opere, Galleria del Falconiere, Ancona

1983

Magdalo Mussio, Galleria del Falconiere, Ancona

1984

Magdalo Mussio, Galleria La Chiocciola, Padova

Galleria Mascarella, Bologna

1986

Pietre che cantano, Galleria Mascarella, Bologna

1987

Magdalo Mussio. Artescrittura, Accademia di belle arti di Macerata, Macerata.

Galleria del Falconiere, Ancona

Centro Bellora, Milano

Magdalo Mussio. Opere, Università di Camerino. Camerino.

Magdalo Mussio. Un cartografo amanuense, Pinacoteca civica. Macerata.

1989

Umanomeno, Cagli

Magdalo Mussio, Galleria Mascarella, Cagli

1990

Magdalo Mussio, Galleria del Falconiere, Ancona 

Magdalo Mussio, Centro Culturale Bellora, Milano

1991

Magdalo Mussio, Opere, Università di Camerino, Camerino

Magdalo Mussio, Un cartografo amanuense, Galleria Civica, Macerata

1992

Magdalo Mussio, Galleria del Falconiere, Ancona 

Magdalo Mussio, Galleria Alphacentauri, Parma

Magdalo Mussio, Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli, succursale di Macerata

1997

Charta. Magdalo Mussio, Palazzo Ricci. Macerata.

1999

Magdalo Mussio. Scritture, Palazzo Ducale/Sala del Diritto, Camerino

2001

Impressioni, Pressioni, Printing Museum Tokyo, Tokyo

2004

Magdalo Mussio, Galleria Milano, Milano 

2015-2016

Omaggio a Magdalo Mussio, Pinacoteca civica Marco Moretti, Civitanova Marche

2016

Magdalo Mussio, Galleria Milano, Milano

La continuità dello sguardo artistico di Magdalo Mussio, Galleria Clivio e Osart Gallery, Milano

2019-2020

Magdalo Mussio, Entr'Acte, Genova, in collaborazione con Galleria Peccolo, Livorno

 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

 

1967

Galleria Masnata-Trentalance, Genova

1967

Galleria civica d'arte moderna e contemporanea, Torino

1972

Italian Visual Poetry, Finch College Museum, New York

1973

Scrittura visuale in Italia, Galleria civica d'arte moderna e contemporanea, Torino

1975

Il disagio della parola, Mercato del Sale, Milano

Il riscatto del significante, Galleria 2000, Bologna

La Piramide capovolta, Padova

1976

Parola, Immagine, Oggetto, Istituto Italiano di cultura, Tokyo

Scrittura, Galleria Seconda Scala, Roma

Studio Sant'Andrea, Milano

Galleria Unimedia, Genova

1977

La forma della scrittura, GAM. Bologna

1978

Un'eredità culturale marchigiana, Palazzo Bosdari, Ancona

Università di Sydney, War memorial Gallery, Sydney

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Parola Immagine e Scrittura, Napoli

1979

E parole e le immagini, Rotonda di Via Besana, Milano

1980

Da scrivere, di Segno in Segno, Sala della Pretura, Saronno

Identitè italienne: l'Art en italie depuis 1959, Centre Georges Pompidou, Parigi

1981

Calligrafia, Centro Morandi, Roma

1982

Artescrittura, Collegio Universitario Cairoli, Pavia

1983

D'un parcours italien: la strada occulta, Centre Culturel Thibaud Champagne, Galleria Passage a Troyes

1984

Ricerche contrapposte, Chiesa di San Paolo, Macerata

Sino / italian visual poetry exhibition, Formosa

1985

La scrittura Visuale in Italia, Studio Morra, Napoli

Quadriennale di Roma

Interscrizioni: Parola e immagine, Galleria Radice, Lissone

Esperimenti di Poesia tra luce e suono, Stellata di Bodueno

1986

Noi leggevamo un giorno per diletto..., Palazzo Mengoni Ferretti

Segno e poesia, Torre Pusterla, Casalpusterlengo, Centro culturale Bellora, Milano 

Pittura, scrittura, Pittura, Ex convento di San Carlo, Erice; Centro di Cultura Ausoni, Roma

1988

Ubi Minor, Ibi Maior, Associazione culturale L'Arco, Roma 

Passages, scrittura, pittura, Galleria dei banchi nuovi, Roma

1989

Mercato del Sale: Arte e dintorni, Centro Isabella, Macerata

Arte in Italia 1945/90, Pinacoteca Comunale, Avezzano

1990

Progetto di strumento musicale, Centro culturale il gabbiano, La Spezia

Poeme object, Mercato del Sale, Milano 

Premio Marche, Ancona

Un filo d'Arianna nel labirinto contemporaneo, Galleria del Falconiere, Ancona

Tema e variazioni, Galleria del Falconiere, Ancona 

Raccolta del disegno contemporaneo, Galleria civica, Modena

1991

Parola e immagine, Premio città di Gallarate, Gallarate

Artisti di varie marche, Associazione culturale Mari e Monti, Macerata

1992

Biennale di Bologna, Bologna

15 autori... oro?, Galleria Alphacentauri, Parma

Grafica d'artista, Iesi

7 confluenze 7, Fabriano

3 autori: Mussio, D'Agostino, Pompili, Palazzo Ruini, Reggio Emilia

1993

Linguaggio immagine, Archivio di Nuova Scrittura, Milano 

78 artisti per un alfabeto, Biblioteca Nazionale, Firenze

Progetto borderline, Convento di Monteciccardo

Magdalo Mussio, Nagasawa, D'Agostino, Galleria del Falconiere, Ancona 

1994

Magdalo Mussio, William Xerra, Vincenzo Accame, Nanni Balestrini, Lamberto Pignotti, Galleria Piacentia, Piacenza

Galleria del Falconiere, Ancona

Ritratto d'autore, Galleria la Sfinge Malaspina, Ascoli Piceno

1994-1995

Ad ognuno la sua, Padova; Chiesa di San Paolo, Macerata

1996

Magdalo Mussio, Paolo Icaro, Eliseo Mattiacci, Francesca Rutigliano, Chiesa di San Floriano, Jesi

1997

Museo d'arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto