The Galleria del Deposito

Vita Carlo Fedeli

Before embarking on “production”, another question had to be answered: where to exhibit the works. The problem was quickly solved when a space measuring 4 by 5 by 6 metres, with a back room, became available at number 3 Piazza Nettuno for a modest rent. It had previously been used as a coal store. The premises were immediately rented.

Now that we had a venue, other decisions had to be made. Should it simply serve as the cooperative’s headquarters, or should it become a fully fledged gallery where, alongside the group’s own productions, other works could also be exhibited and exhibitions introducing artists and artistic movements could be organised? The second option was chosen, and, in memory of its former use as a coal store, the premises were named the Galleria del Deposito.

It was also decided that the activities of the group and the gallery should be brought to the attention of a substantial readership in Italy and around the world through a monthly newsletter in Italian and English, produced with the utmost economy: two or, at most, four pages, entirely in black and white. In colour, on the other hand, we would print small catalogues of the group’s productions in limited editions, designed to be easily updated. Each issue of the newsletter would devote considerable space to members’ activities, communicated to us through a specially prepared form.

Important new members soon joined. Gillo Dorfles was the first to join the nine founders, followed by Vera Horvat Pintaric, a young art historian at the University of Zagreb, already internationally known among art professionals for her interest in new trends in contemporary art. Among the first to become members was also our friend Mario Gavello, a senior executive at Italsider, whose managerial experience proved invaluable to Paolo Minetti, the cooperative’s administrative manager and gallery director.

Gavello’s presence, despite his being simply an art enthusiast, gave rise to the mistaken belief that the group enjoyed secret “industrial” sponsorship. In reality, the cooperative always managed to survive entirely through its own resources. The Provincial Administration of Genoa was the only institution to offer financial support: responding to a proposal by the Deposito to organise an exhibition of “mobile sculptures in the wind” in the city, it provided a grant of 200,000 lire. The sum was promptly returned when it became clear that the initiative could not go ahead.

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