Giorgio Camuffo , Imago, 2021

So what is Imago? It is not easy to say: a magazine, a house organ, a sample book of graphic excellence, a repertoire of images, a meeting place, a laboratory for technical and creative experimentation, or something else? Imago itself does not show itself with “intentions of clarity”: first it hides, then, once opened, it explodes, expresses itself in infinite forms and finally gets lost, fragments – or transforms itself with each new attempt to approach it. – Giorgio Camuffo With its fourteen issues published between 1960 and 1971, Imago is an editorial enterprise that cannot be enclosed in easy definitions: a cultural adventure in the Milan of the Sixties, which in this volume edited by Giorgio Camuffo is recounted and documented in its entirety for the first time. Born from the encounter between the graphic designer Michele Provinciali and Raffaele Bassoli, owner of Bassoli Fotoincisioni, “Imago” is formally a company magazine, produced to show the best of what was possible at the time in terms of image and text reproduction techniques. But it is also a “happy island” of free experimentation, where figures from the world of art and visual communication – including Max Huber, Giancarlo Iliprandi, Bruno Munari, Remo Muratore, Armando Testa, Pino Tovaglia – dialogue with important names in art criticism and literature, such as Dino Buzzati, Piero Chiara, Giuseppe Pontiggia, Mario Soldati. Imago thus bears witness to the role of graphic designers in the midst of the economic boom and protests, to the artistic trends of the period, and to the relationship that developed in those years between industry and culture. The photographs documenting each print highlight the extraordinary variety of works that Imago contains, as well as the importance of the physical and “experiential” dimension of the contents, while the numerous stories and anecdotes convey the spirit that animated this collective artistic project. In addition to the analytical chapters dedicated to the individual issues, the book delves into various aspects of the world of “Imago”, from its protagonists to its historical context, up to its relations with art and graphics, through the contributions of Giorgio Camuffo, Carlo Vinti, Maddalena Dalla Mura, Mario Piazza, Marta Sironi and Nina Bassoli and interviews with Andrea Bassoli and Leonardo Sonnoli. The volume is enriched by the reproduction of Le Saponette by Michele Provinciali, originally published on the occasion of the release of the first issue of Imago. Here you can find out more about IMAGO 1960-1971 and here you can follow the curator, Giorgio Camuffo, who talks with Leonardo Sonnoli and Jonathan Pierini.