'Poema Urbano' by Ruggero Maggi
About this activity.
From 1 to 31 May 2025, Ruggero Maggi, an artist from Milan, will exhibit a mail art collage of post-its entitled ‘Poema Urbano’ (‘Urban Poem’) in the window gallery ‘De Prachtvink’ at the Vinkhuizen shopping centre, Platinalaan 505a, 9743 GZ Groningen.
‘Poema Urbano’ is a printed collage of ‘post-its’, the well known yellow sticky notes, on a white sheet of cardboard measuring 70 x 68 cm, made in 2025. Maggi has glued approximately 200 notes in a linear composition, whereby the horizontal axes of the post-its have the same angle. He has applied a circular xerography to the composition, which suggests a vinyl sound carrier. Maggi’s city poem mainly consists of somewhat outdated models of automobiles. The images tells the viewer that cities all over the world are mainly made of grills, wheels and engines with the accompanying sound. You don’t need a record player to hear the ‘city poem’: you just have to open your window. In the Window Gallery, located at the busy parking lot of the Vinkhuizen shopping centre, the poem really resonates with the environment.
The choice for Post-It notes is no coincidence. The work is traditional mail art, the art form in which artists from all kinds of countries send each other unclear objects and envelopes by post, often without meaning or aesthetics. The art form has its roots in Groningue, with Hendrik Werkman and his ‘Next Call’, but became famous through the American, Ray Johnson in the sixties. With the imperative ‘Post It!’ Maggi pleads with a wink to the importance of mail art, which is becoming increasingly difficult internationally due to the enormously increased postage rates. The shipment from Milan to Groningue costed a considerable €30.90. In some countries, mail art is no longer possible: this year the Danish post announced that it would no longer deliver letters.
Ruggero Maggi (1950, Turin) discovered visual poetry in 1973. From 1975 he took the first steps in international mail art and has since become one of the world's leading mail art artists. His subjects range from social engagement such as projects on Tibet, biodiversity in the Amazon to the pure celebration of art, such as a project on Michelangelo. In 2022 he took the initiative for the international M.A.D.: Mail Art Day to be celebrated annually on October 16, the birthday of Ray Johnson. Maggi's art is included in various museum collections in Europe and America. Maggi currently lives and works in Milan.
The window gallery is an exhibition space that can only be viewed from the outside, but then 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The gallery is lit until 23:00.
A new work of art by an artist is exhibited every month.
Raamgalerie De Prachtvink.
Raamgalerie De Prachtvink is een 24-uurs galerie aan Platinalaan 505a bij Winkelcentrum Vinkhuizen. De galerie heeft als specialiteit internationale mail art.
Location.
Raamgalerie De Prachtvink
Platinalaan 505
9743GZ Groningen
tel 050-2302991
prachtvink.blogspot.com/