Abstract

The exhibition Visualized Processes of Thinking (Processi di pensiero visualizzati) was organized at the Kunstmuseum in Lucerne in 1970 by the then director Jean-Christophe Ammann. Despite relatively hidden among the several outstanding exhibitions taking place all over the world at that time, it’s a significant early account of the reception of Italian art abroad. The first museum retrospective devoted to the practice of the artists broadly associated with Arte Povera, the exhibition and the accompanying catalogue marked an important moment in the transition from the early time of Arte Povera to its development in the early 1970s, when the label was largely dismissed and artists concentrated on their individual paths within the broader international community of post-minimalist and conceptual art. In addition, the article sheds light on Jean-Christophe Ammann as a critic, a role he hasn’t yet been recognized despite his acknowledgement as a major museum curator.