Dieter Kopp. Tradition and freedom

The exhibition set up on the first floor of the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, curated by Giorgio Agamben, one of the greatest philosophers of our time, presents a selection of works - oils, mainly on canvas or on wood, but also drawings made with different techniques, especially pastels – through which it is possible to retrace the long career of over fifty years of activity of the painter Dieter Kopp (Prien am Chiemsee, Bavaria 1939 - Ardea 2022).

Among the exhibited works, we mention the landscapes of Paros (1970s), the still lifes (Zurbarán 1 and 2, 1975-1976); Villa Balestra in Rome and other views of the city created over different periods (from Rome in 1989 to the Roman Forum. Afternoon in 2008); the interiors (Reflections, 1977, Courtyard in the morning, 1980-1981), Notre-Dame (1983-1984); the nudes (large-scale paintings, drawings and watercolors from the 1970s and 1980s), the bowls (1990s and 2000s). To define Dieter Kopp's painting, Jean Clair coined the neologism "adsenza", evoking a state of suspension, halfway between absence and presence. Elements, all of these, which are found in all the works on display: landscapes, still lifes, urban views, interiors, nudes and enigmatic bowls. According to Agamben, the German Kopp was the most Roman of painters, who chose Italy as his true homeland of the soul. Arriving in the city on the Tiber in 1966 (after three years spent in Paris and another three in Florence), the Bavarian painter, in fact, found a firm home in Rome as well as in the light of the South, so much so that he also spent long stays in Greece and Sicily.

The exhibition is promoted by the Department of Culture of Rome Capital and is produced and organized by the Palaexpo Special Company.

Photo credits: courtesy of Palazzo delle Esposizioni official site