Maria Lai. A Journey to America offers a profound exploration of Maria Lai’s (1919–2013) life and groundbreaking six-decade career. Featuring approximately 100 works, the retrospective traces her evolution from early landscapes of the 1950s to her later innovative creations, many being shown publicly and in the U.S. for the first time. The exhibition underscores Lai’s enduring impact on contemporary art.
Lai’s career unfolded across a century of profound change, marked by her determination to carve out an independent artistic voice in a predominantly male domain. This journey often involved isolation and a deep sense of otherness. Born in Sardinia, Lai’s work is deeply rooted in the island’s traditions, culture, and landscapes while engaging with global artistic movements, including Arte Povera and American influences.
Structured into thematic sections, the exhibition begins with a timeline contextualizing Lai’s life and work within 20th- and 21st-century historical and artistic currents. Her early figurative paintings of Sardinian landscapes give way to the abstract works she carried on travels to Montreal and New York in 1968, a journey that marked a pivotal shift in her career.
In the 1970s, Lai transitioned from traditional mediums to thread and stitched canvases, with her Telai (Looms) taking center stage. Inspired by Sardinian weaving traditions, these three-dimensional works elevate the loom into a cultural and artistic symbol. A notable piece, La torre (The Tower), created in 1971 and revisited in 2001, reflects her response to global events like the September 11 attacks.
The exhibition also delves into her explorations of space and storytelling. Series like Geografie (Geographies) reimagine cosmis landscapes, while her Libri cuciti (Stitched Books) and Lenzuoli cuciti (Stitched Sheets) investigate the complexities of communication. Her Fiabe cucite (Sewn Fairytales) blend myth and archetype into a visual narrative.
A highlight is Lai’s relational art, particularly her 1981 project Legarsi alla montagna (Tying Oneself to the Mountain), one of Italy’s earliest examples of relational art. The project involved the residents of Ulassai connecting their homes to the surrounding mountains with a 16 miles blue denim ribbon, symbolizing unity and community. The exhibition presents it through the photographs by Piero Berengo Gardin, with contributions from Lai herself, and a film by Tonino Casula.
The exhibition concludes with Essere è tessere (To Be is to Weave), her final collective action in 2008. Realized in Aggius, Sardinia, the project combined textile creation with Walt Whitman’s poetry, emphasizing art’s communal essence. At nearly 90 years old, Lai reaffirmed her belief in art’s capacity to connect humanity.
Two accompanying films deepen the audience’s understanding of Lai’s vision: Inventata da un dio distratto by Nicoletta Nesler and Marilisa Piga offers an intimate portrait of her creative process, while Stefano Scialotti’s Maria Lai. Assetata di Libertà explores the theme of freedom central to her life and work.
Through her art, Maria Lai bridges the local and universal. Maria Lai. A Journey to America invites audiences to reflect on her timeless insights into creativity, culture, and the shared human experience.