Abstract Art of the 1980s in Lucca: Lo spazio esteso at Fondazione Ragghianti
From November 14, 2026, to January 10, 2027, Fondazione Ragghianti presents Lo spazio esteso. Percorsi d'arte negli anni '80 (Expanding Space: Artistic Explorations in the 1980s), an exhibition bringing together 26 leading figures of European art, from Carla Accardi to Enrico Castellani, and from Dadamaino to Ettore Spalletti, through an exhibition itinerary that extends into Lucca's historic city centre.
The 1980s were not solely the decade of the Transavanguardia and the return to figurative art. Alongside the expressive movements that dominated the international art scene, another line of artistic research continued to explore the possibilities of abstraction, questioning the relationship between painting, space, and perception.
It is precisely this perspective, less extensively explored by art critics and historians, that lies at the heart of Lo spazio esteso. Percorsi d'arte negli anni '80, an exhibition project presented by Fondazione Ragghianti and Fondazione Centro delle Arti Lucca, running from November 14, 2026, to January 10, 2027.
Curated by Paolo Bolpagni and Francesca Pola, the exhibition offers a fresh interpretation of European art in the 1980s through the work of 26 artists who helped redefine the relationship between artwork and environment, pushing beyond the traditional boundaries of the painted surface.
Beyond the Transavanguardia: The Other History of Art in the 1980s
In the collective imagination, the 1980s are associated with the return to figurative painting, the expressive power of gesture, and the rediscovery of imagery. It was a period when movements such as the Italian Transavanguardia and German Neo-Expressionism gained a prominent position on the international art scene.
Yet the decade was also marked by different artistic approaches, often moving away from the representation of reality and towards an understanding of the artwork as a space for interaction.
Lo spazio esteso focuses precisely on these artistic explorations, shedding new light on a period of abstract and non-figurative experimentation that profoundly influenced the evolution of contemporary artistic language.
At the heart of the exhibition is a conception of the artwork that extends beyond the physical boundaries of the canvas, developing through a dialogue with space, light, colour, and the viewer's perceptual experience.
Painting thus opens up to new dimensions, becoming a physical presence, a structure, and an intervention within the surrounding environment.
From Carla Accardi to Ettore Spalletti: The Artists Featured in the Exhibition
The exhibition brings together 26 artists from different generations, united by their desire to explore new expressive possibilities through abstraction.
Among the featured artists are Carla Accardi, Enrico Castellani, Dadamaino, Piero Dorazio, Gianni Colombo, Mario Nigro, Pino Pinelli, Grazia Varisco, and Ettore Spalletti, all key figures in the history of Italian art in the second half of the 20th century.
Alongside them, the exhibition explores the work of international artists such as Alan Charlton, Wolfgang Laib, François Morellet, Fred Sandback, Niele Toroni, David Tremlett, and Felice Varini, extending the dialogue beyond national boundaries.
The selection also includes Rodolfo Aricò, Gianni Asdrubali, Carlo Ciussi, Achille Perilli, Bruno Querci, Angelo Savelli, Nelio Sonego, Günter Umberg, Elisabeth Vary, and Michel Verjux.
Despite the diversity of their artistic languages, their practices share an interest in moving beyond traditional imagery and establishing new relationships between artwork, body, and environment.
What emerges is a vision of abstraction not simply as the absence of figuration, but as a means of investigating the very nature of space and visual experience.
Installations Across Lucca's Historic Centre
One of the most distinctive aspects of Lo spazio esteso is its city-wide dimension.
Rather than being confined to the galleries of Fondazione Ragghianti, housed in the monumental complex of San Micheletto, the exhibition extends into the city through installations and site-specific interventions designed to engage with significant locations in Lucca's historic centre.
The venues include the Cloister of Santa Caterina at the Real Collegio, the Church of Sant'Alessandro, and the outdoor spaces of the first cloister of the San Micheletto monumental complex, as well as other notable sites throughout the city.
The project thus establishes a dialogue between contemporary art and historical heritage, transforming urban spaces into an integral part of the exhibition experience.
This approach takes on particular significance in relation to the exhibition's central theme: the idea of an artwork capable of transcending its physical boundaries and establishing a direct relationship with its surrounding environment.
The city-wide exhibition also marks the first exhibition initiative of Fondazione Centro delle Arti Lucca, an institution established in 2024 to promote the development of a new museum and exhibition centre in the city, scheduled to open in 2029.
Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti’s Legacy and the Exploration of Abstraction
The exhibition draws on the tradition of art-historical research established by Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti, who had already devoted significant studies to the definition of abstract art in the 1960s.
In particular, the project references his book Piet Mondrian e l'arte del XX secolo (Piet Mondrian and 20th-Century Art), published in 1962, through which the art historian contributed to a deeper understanding of the role of abstraction in contemporary visual culture.
More than sixty years later, Lo spazio esteso carries forward this spirit of inquiry, offering a fresh perspective on art in the 1980s that broadens established interpretations of the decade.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a scholarly catalogue featuring essays by curators Paolo Bolpagni and Francesca Pola, alongside contributions from Luca Massimo Barbero, Bruno Corà, and Lorenzo Madaro.
The project thus offers an opportunity to rediscover a fundamental chapter in recent art history, highlighting how the abstract experiments of the 1980s helped redefine the relationship between artwork, space, and viewer.
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