Mario Convertino, an exhibition with his works. Photogallery

The exhibition “Mario Convertino – Designer of the immaginario”, on the thirtieth anniversary of the death of the designer and graphic designer, well known to music lovers for his large production of record covers (a gallery below).

The exhibition includes works ranging from video art to the covers of 33 rpm records that have made the history of music and graphics, from photographs to drawings, from graphic sketches to sculptures and the covers of Re Nudo. In fact, Mario Convertino’s many experiences include that with the magazine.

Mario Convertino (the portrait that illustrates this article is by Guido Harari) was active between the second half of the Seventies and the early Nineties. The most well-known and recognizable core of his production is made up of record covers: Convertino has collaborated with some of the most important artists on the Italian music scene, from Lucio Battisti to Franco Battiato, from Pino Daniele to Eugenio Finardi, from Gianna Nannini to Angelo Branduardi, from Zucchero to PFM, and then Krisma, Pooh, Ivan Graziani and Antonello Venditti, just to name a few. Convertino contributed to redefining the very function of cover art, which from an ornamental surface becomes an integral part of the overall artistic project.

His research, however, does not end in the musical field. Mario Convertino has extended his design approach to a variety of fields: photography, advertising, editorial graphics, videography and even sculpture. The interest in hybrid languages and the contamination between media is also found in his television experience, in particular with the television show “Mister Fantasy”.

In the Milanese scenario of the Seventies and Eighties, Convertino scenario found interlocutors and research companions such as Elio Fiorucci, Gianni Sassi, Guido Harari, Cesare Monti, Roberto Masotti, Ilvio Gallo, Bob Noorda, Albe Steiner, Italo Lupi and Bruno Munari.

“MARIO CONVERTINO – Designer of the immaginary”

Milan, Steam Factory (Ex Cisterne Atelier Space)

15 May / 14 June 2026

Inauguration: Saturday 16 May, 6.00 pm

Opening days and times:

closed Monday and Tuesday;

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: from 2.30pm to 7.00pm;

Saturday and Sunday: from 11.00 to 20.00.

Judas, “Punk”, 1978

Angelo Branduardi “Pick the first apple”, 1979