Nicola de Maria

1988

The 1980s saw the resurgence of painting, which had been given up for dead a decade earlier, and Nicola De Maria, an artist considered to be part of the Italian Transavanguardia movement, was one of the key figures in this revival. Pierre Keller, who would later hire this abstract painter as a teacher at the ECAL, gave him free rein in designing this 1988 poster. De Maria’s love of bright colours, with symbols and poetic elements added on top, comes through in this lyrical, pigment-saturated poster. It can be seen as a lake, sky and meadow with musical staves framing these areas – or simply as a joyful frenzy of colour and painting.