Curated by one of the most prominent philosophers of our time, Giorgio Agamben, the exhibition spans over fifty years of activity of the painter Dieter Kopp (Prien am Chiemsee, Bavaria 1939 - Ardea 2022). German by birth, Kopp moved to Rome in 1966 and became profoundly bound to his adopted city. Of all the painters he was acquainted with, Agamben regarded him as the most truly Roman. Installed at the first floor of the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, the show will present a selection of works – prevalently oils, either on canvas or wood, but also drawings in a number of different techniques, particularly pastels – covering all the principal subjects tackled by this artist in his painting. These range from the Paros landscapes of the 1970s to his still-lifes (Zurbarán 1 and 2, 1975-1976), Villa Balestra in Rome and other views of the city produced at different moments (from Roma, 1989, to Foro romano. Pomeriggio, 2008), his interiors (Riflessi, 1977, Cortile al mattino, 1980-1981), Notre-Dame (1983-1984), nudes (large-scale paintings, drawings and watercolours from the 1970s and '80s), bowls (1990s and '00s).
To describe Dieter Kopp's painting, Jean Clair coined the "adsenza" neologism in order to evoke a state of suspension that was midway between absence and presence. A friend of the artist since his arrival in Rome, Giorgio Agamben perceives his painting as being both peremptory and blurred.