Mirella Bentivoglio
Mirella Bentivoglio was born on March 28, 1922, in Klagenfurt, Austria, to Italian parents, and passed away in Rome on March 22, 2017. An artist, writer, verbo-visual poet, and performer, her work focused primarily on verbo-visual poetics. In parallel, she was active as an art critic, essayist, and exhibition curator both in Italy and abroad, playing a key role in originating numerous initiatives dedicated to women’s art.
Initially a painter in oils and an author of poetry books in Italian and English, she became drawn to the combined use of verbal language and imagery. She aligned herself with the international neo-avant-garde verbo-visual movements of the second half of the 20th century, emerging as a leading figure. Starting from concrete poetry, visual poetry, and visual writing—which marked her entry into the realm of cutting-edge experimentation—she expanded her practice from the 1960s onward to include a highly personal form of object-poetry (poesia-oggetto). In the 1970s, she created performances, action poetry, and environmental poetry, installing large symbolic structures derived from language in public spaces.
![Mirella Bentivoglio, Genesi della carta geografica, 1982, Libro-oggetto. Composizione onice verde, 22 x 30 x 6 cm]()
![Mirella Bentivoglio, Dattiloscrivere la primavera, 1986, Libro]()
![Mirella Bentivoglio, Post Scriptum, 1985, Ardesia, 20 x 20 cm]()
Initially a painter in oils and an author of poetry books in Italian and English, she became drawn to the combined use of verbal language and imagery. She aligned herself with the international neo-avant-garde verbo-visual movements of the second half of the 20th century, emerging as a leading figure. Starting from concrete poetry, visual poetry, and visual writing—which marked her entry into the realm of cutting-edge experimentation—she expanded her practice from the 1960s onward to include a highly personal form of object-poetry (poesia-oggetto). In the 1970s, she created performances, action poetry, and environmental poetry, installing large symbolic structures derived from language in public spaces.
