Arte Povera

An Italian variant of Conceptualism during the late 1960s and early 1970s that was linked to the political radicalism of the period, which reached its zenith with the student uprisings of 1968. It was marked by an attempt to rescue individuals from the stifling effects of consumer culture and, according to Arte Povera pioneer Germano Celant, the group’s critical mouthpiece, the attempt to break down the separation between art and life. Arte Povera works were either happenings or sculptures that were created with unglamorous everyday materials and often displayed surprising juxtapositions.