Directing

Ugo Nespolo

Born

1941-08-29 (85)

Place of birth

Mosso, Italy

Known for

Directing

Credits

19 titles

Ugo Nespolo (Mosso, Biella, 1941), a graduate of the Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti in Turin, with a degree in Modern Letters, made his debut on the Italian art scene in the 1960s, in the climate of pop art and arte povera in Turin, spending time with artists like Pistoletto, Merz, Boetti, Zorio, but taking his own personal path involving colour and writing. A painter, sculptor, illustrator, experimenter and explorer of techniques, Nespolo – a great cinéphile – has made several artist’s films, presented over the years in various exhibitions in Italy and abroad at important cultural institutions. For many years he was the president of the National Museum of Cinema in Turin, and in recent y…

Known for

Behind the camera

A.G. poster
NR

Experimental film by Ugo Nespolo.

A.G.

1968

Tucci-Ucci poster
NR

Experimental short by Ugo Nespolo.

Tucci-Ucci

1968

Good Morning, Michelangelo poster
NR

The film challenges the aura of the artwork, pushing it towards performance in urban space. During the exhibition Con-temp-l’azione (1967–68), at the three galleries Stein, Sperone and Il punto, two works by Michelangelo Pistoletto are taken out into the street. The film marks the beginning of a more militant and performative phase in Pistoletto’s career, opening up possible references to Situationism, Fluxus and nouveau réalisme. The film starts with Pistoletto shaving in front of one of his ‘mirrors’: the codes of everyday life and advertising burst into the scene. The large ball of newspapers roams Turin in a convertible automobile. The music of The Beatles accompanies the exploration of different filming and editing techniques. Intense, amused and brilliant, Buongiorno Michelangelo suggests a performative, cooperative and perhaps also playful aspect of the attitude of this short and intense period. —Tate Modern

Good Morning, Michelangelo

1968

Le gote in fiamme poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Le gote in fiamme

1967

La galante avventura del cavaliere dal lieto volto poster
NR

Dressed in military uniforms characters are engaged in the pursuit of a woman, during which they shamelessly expose their nudity.

La galante avventura del cavaliere dal lieto volto

1968

Un Supermaschio poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Un Supermaschio

1975

Con-certo rituale poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Con-certo rituale

1973

Neonmerzare poster
NR

From 1967 to 1969 Ugo Nespolo made three films about three artist friends: Mario Merz, Alighiero Boetti and Michelangelo Pistoletto. Neonmerzare, featuring Merz, was shot in the gallery of Gian Enzo Sperone in Turin, in 1968. With lyrical movements, the camera tracks a series of neon tubes, establishing an ideal dialogue between the traditions of the abstract cinema of light and colour, and experimental documentary filmmaking. The symphony of lights is accompanied by jazz improvisation by the saxophonist Carlo Actis Dato. —Tate Modern

Neonmerzare

1967

Grazie mamma Kodak poster
NR

First film of Ugo Nespolo

Grazie mamma Kodak

1968

No artwork available
NR

Short film by Ugo Nespolo.

Campari 150

2010

No artwork available
NR

Short film by Ugo Nespolo.

Superglance

2007

Andare a Roma poster
NR

Short film by Ugo Nespolo.

Andare a Roma

1976

Boettinbianchenero poster
NR

In 1967, a few months after the famous exhibition Arte povera-Im Spazio at the gallery La Bertesca in Genoa (when the critic Germano Celant defined the first guidelines of arte povera), Alighiero Boetti, at the age of 27, had a solo show at the Turin-based gallery Christian Stein. The first part the film explores the works assembled with iron, wood and industrial materials (Eternit, camouflage fabric, enamel paint), then shifts to the reactions and relations with the works of the audience at the opening (the artists Michelangelo Pistoletto, Mario Ceroli and Giulio Paolini, and the dealer Gian Enzo Sperone are recognisable). The black and white images are accompanied by a saxophone improvisation by Carlo Actis Dato. —Tate Modern

Boettinbianchenero

1968

No artwork available
NR

Short film by Ugo Nespolo.

E' l'ora del Campari in Centrale

2009

No artwork available
NR

Short film by Ugo Nespolo.

Gli anni dell'avanguardia

2008

No artwork available
NR

Short film by Ugo Nespolo.

Shades on the couch

2015

Film-a-TO poster
NR

Short film by Ugo Nespolo.

Film-a-TO

2001

Le porte girevoli poster
NR

Short film by Ugo Nespolo.

Le porte girevoli

1982

Time After Time poster
NR

A puppet equipped with suction cups slides along different surfaces.

Time After Time

1994