Arte Povera is one of the most influential, and yet “under the radar”, art movements to come out of Italy during the last century. Since its appearance in the late 1960s, the work of Giuseppe Penone, Marisa Merz, and Jannis Kounellis, among others, have strongly influenced the international contemporary art scene, revolutionizing the ways artists think about materials and institutions.

Arte Povera radically changed the history of conceptual art through its political views on capitalism, social structures, urbanization, and environmental degradation, pioneering artistic approaches that still today define the practices of many internationally well-known artists.