The National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art inaugurates the Fabrizio Clerici exhibition. The atlas of the wonderful , curated by Giulia Tulino, a journey into the imagination of a great protagonist of Italian twentieth century art , a refined painter, set designer and illustrator incomparable in his capacity for visionary and limitless inventiveness. An extremely cultured artist with encyclopedic curiosity, Clerici has created dreamlike and enigmatic universes full of charm, arising from a boundless fantasy and nourished by classical culture and myth, but also by the movements of his unconscious.

The training as an architect and the youthful encounter with Alberto Savinio are fundamental elements of his artistic path, which sees him oriented towards surrealism but with a metaphysical inspiration, while architecture, mysterious ruins and famous finds participate in a symbolic game. The symbol, often entrusted to the architectural element, is central to Clerici's work, as a vehicle for his personal atlas of memories and wonders. The viewer is invited to get lost in an attempt to decipher the numerous literary and artistic references, while participating in the restlessness that belongs to the soul of the artist and at the same time to the humanity of the twentieth century. The exhibition stems from the recent acquisition, which took place in 2021, of the collection from the Fabrizio Clerici Archive, of great value for the precious material preserved and for its testimony of the rich archipelago of relationships established by Clerici with important intellectuals and artists of his time. . The main intent is to return not only the history of Fabrizio Clerici, but also that of the "fantastic Italian" art too often confused with Surrealism tout-court.

Artists who never joined in organized groups or movements but were rather united by a climate, a state of mind, a quotationist, cultured and disinterested taste. Over a hundred works, including paintings, engravings and works on paper, are flanked in the exhibition path by different thematic focuses made up of archival materials such as documents, photographs, letters, articles, design objects, theatrical sketches, artist books and first editions , which broaden the view on Clerici's production as set designer, illustrator, designer and architect.