Untitled 1960

Mimmo Rotella made this collage, its 'décollage' actually, from torn posters, and you can tell he's not just tearing randomly. There's a real consideration of color and form, a kind of accidental beauty revealed in the process. Look at how the layering creates a gritty texture, almost like a city wall worn down by time. There's a lot of yellow, fighting with browns and blacks, and these bits of text peeking through, like “Le Grand,” give you a ghostly sense of what was once there. See that one jagged edge of yellow near the bottom? It's like a slash of sunlight, cutting through the gloom. Rotella was part of a scene with folks like Wolf Vostell, who were all about taking what's discarded and making it new. It's about embracing the mess, the unexpected, and finding something beautiful in the ruins.