Lynda Benglis & Properzia de’ Rossi: Sculpitrici di capriccioso e destrissimo ingegno

The catalogue curated by Lorenzo Balbi presents an unprecedented dialogue between Properzia de’ Rossi and Lynda Benglis. Properzia, born in Bologna around 1490, is regarded as the first female sculptor in the history of art and the only woman to have a biography included in Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects by Giorgio Vasari. Lynda Benglis, born in 1941 in Lake Charles, is one of the leading figures of contemporary international art.

Despite the significant chronological and historical-geographical distance between them, their approaches to artistic practice—both operating outside established conventions and predetermined models—invite us to reflect on women’s art and on the importance of reconsidering dogmas and practices that remain deeply rooted and influential today, yet have become outdated.