Emilio Vedova Emerging ’82 - 1, 1982

Vedova talks about his painting with broad gestures that reflect the movement of the brush across the canvas … a man of natural talent, in profound and intimate contact with his work and his material. Vedova paints his canvases with the same simple and astonishing naturalness with which a peasant ploughs the earth. This freedom to be himself, this freshness, are qualities that no one will ever be able to take away from him. — Rudi Fuchs, 1982

Vedova was the Italian representative at the first documenta in Kassel in 1955, and his work was exhibited there again in 1959, 1964 and 1982. His inclusion in documenta 7 demonstrated his significance for the up-and-coming generation of neo-expressive artists. That same year, his work was shown at the 40th Venice Biennale and in a solo exhibition at the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, also curated by Rudi Fuchs. This preceded a number of publications and solo exhibitions as the decade progressed, including a retrospective curated by Germano Celant at the Museo Correr, Venice, and a show at the Staatsgalerie Moderner Kunst, Munich.