Biography
Born in Fondo, in the Val di Non, in 1892, he moved with his family to Rovereto where he attended the Elisabettina Royal School. He moved to Rome in 1913 and met Balla, one of the masters of Futurism. They think together about the new art, which must have to do with the new times, the speed and the science that continues to progress. In 1915 they wrote a book: “Futurist Reconstruction of the Universe”, which reflects on Futurism, proposing a fusion of the different arts and a greater involvement of art in life. His love for the show allows him to stage the Plastic Dances in Rome, a puppet show consisting of five parts (or actions). In 1919 the “Depero Art House” opens in Rovereto, where art objects are produced and many artistic techniques are tested. In 1925 he represented Italy at the Paris International Exposition together with Prampolini and Balla. Two years later he published Depero-Dinamo Azari (the “bolted” book), the first example of a futurist book-object, for the realization of which he put his graphic imagination to good use. In 1928 he went to New York, where he still works for theater and advertising. He deals with “experimental writing”, composes abstract and “noisy” poems, all centered on the sound (and not on the meaning) of the words. In 1948 he moved to the United States, where he tried to advertise a new material he used, the buxus, and set up some of his personal exhibitions. Back in Rovereto, he worked intensely and published the Manifesto of nuclear painting and plastic in 1950. In 1951 he participated in the IX Triennale of Milan with a personal room and in 1952 he was in the master’s room at the XXVI Venice Biennale. He then created the large layout and furnishings for the Provincial Council hall in Trento (1953-56). In 1955 he participated in the VII Roman Quadrennial and, the following year, he began the construction of his museum, the first ever futurist, which was inaugurated in August 1959. In the same year he was present at the commemorative exhibition for the fiftieth anniversary of the first poster Futurist. After his death in Rovereto in 1960, the first retrospective takes place in 1962 at the Toninelli Gallery in Milan, curated by Guido Ballo; another follows at the Modern Art Gallery of Villa Reale, also in Milan, curated by Agnoldomenico Pica, in 1966; then at the Galleria Martano / Due, in Turin, curated by Luigi Lambertini, in 1969; at the Civic Museum of Bassano del Grappa, curated by Bruno Passamani, in 1970; in Castel Mareccio di Bolzano, curated by Enrico Crispolti, in 1983; at the Depero Museum in Rovereto, curated by Maurizio Scudiero, in 1986 and 1989.