Marlene 1964

Mimmo Rotella made this artwork, ‘Marlene,’ using torn posters, a technique he called ‘décollage’. It’s like collage, but instead of adding, he subtracted, tearing away layers to reveal what’s underneath. Up close, you see the texture – the ragged edges of the paper, the way it’s been ripped and weathered. The image of Marlene Dietrich is both there and not there, fragmented but still recognizable, with a warm color palette contrasting with harsh rips. It’s like memory, right? How things fade and distort over time, leaving traces of what once was. I’m drawn to the area around her face, where the tears seem to emphasize her expression, her glamour, but also her vulnerability. Rotella’s work reminds me of the Dadaists, like Kurt Schwitters, who used found materials to make art. But there’s also something so uniquely his own, a kind of street poetry made from the detritus of everyday life. It’s a reminder that art is always in conversation, building on what came before, but always finding new ways to see the world.