Press Release BONALUMI SCULPTURES curated by Francesca Pola In collaboration with the estate of the artist “Archivio Bonalumi” October 30, 2014 – January 31, 2015 Mazzoleni Galleria d’Arte Piazza Solferino 2, Torino, Italy Through a selection of the most significant sculptural works of Agostino Bonalumi, the monographic exhibition BONALUMI SCULPTURES, curated by Francesca Pola in collaboration with the estate of the artist “Archivio Bonalumi”, Milan and Mazzoleni Galleria d’Arte Torino, specifically represents the artist’s career which is analysed through this dedicated perspective parallel to his “painting-objects”. Specially designed for the spaces of Mazzoleni Galleria d’Arte of Torino, the exhibition - which will be opened on October 30th – is focused on Bonalumi’s particular interest of experimentation in different materials and conceived in a chronological and typological development. The halls of the Art Gallery will host Bonalumi’s sculptures together with a selection of shaped canvases: from the first plastic examples on canvas, the visitors will begin to view the large fiberglass sculptures including two of his masterpieces, Black (1969) and Red (2005), continuing through the most unique artist’s creations, such as the sculptures realized in fiberglass and crystal like Rapporti (1978) and Yellow (1994), the exhibition ends with the bronze and ceramic experiments of reflections on plastic exploration. Agostino Bonalumi starts to create his sculptures in the mid-sixties: the first works are objects shaped through usage of the canvas, the same technique of the shaped canvases recognized by the critics of that time as “painting-object”. The fourth dimension occupies a precise space as a typical feature of the sculpture, also through the usage of the colour as a fundamental element to confer the form of the sculpture as a role in the space. In the 70’s, the sculptures are freed from the pedestal for a greater harmony with the surrounding space, which led to an euphonious experiment on the shaped ciré and on the spatial experience that involved Bonalumi in his typical “environmental” researches. Parallel to this research, the artist develops a particular idea on lightness and transparency: he starts to create works in fiberglass and crystal where the object is related with the space-time dimension. This approach on matter will be repeated during the nineties, when the artist starts to use metal sheets to produce wall works, by exploiting the potentiality of the material to create slight movements and geometric undulations, as White (1989) and Blu (1990). During this period, Bonalumi develops polyhedral versatile shapes, visible from different perspectives, which invite the visitors to move around the artwork and to understand the total result of the work by discovering new unexpected points of view. At the end of the nineties and the beginning of the 21st Century, the artist returns to study the models and the shapes created in the sixties and seventies, thanks to the usage of coloured ceramic, like Blu and Red (2010). Also, he emphasizes the importance of reflection and light that shapes the entire sculpture with the bronze casting, noble reinterpretation of the experimental sculptures realized in the seventies, through the usage of brand new materials like in Bronzo (2006) and Bronzo (2007). On the occasion of the exhibition, a monograph’s publication will be edited by Francesca Pola titled: BONALUMI SCULPTURES: the book is realized in cooperation with the “Archive Agostino Bonalumi” and Mazzoleni Galleria d’Arte and published by Numerozeroeditore in English and Italian. The monograph is intended to study and contextualize the sculptural experiences of Agostino Bonalumi both in his personal and creative art course within the Italian and International artistic scenes of that period. info sheet of the exhibition Title Agostino Bonalumi, Fragments Location Mazzoleni Galleria d’Arte Panizza Palace Solferino Square, 2 10121 Turin, Italy Curator Francesca Pola Date October 30th, 2014 – January 31st, 2015 Inauguration Thursday October 30th, 2014, 6 pm Opening hours Tuesday - Saturday: 10.30am / 1pm – 4pm / 7.30pm Sunday by appointment only, Monday closed Entrance Free entrance Press office / Info Mazzoleni Galleria d’Arte Piazza Solferino 2 – 10121 Torino Tel. +39 011 534473 – Fax. + 39 011 5113301 [email protected] - www.mazzoleniarte.it Agostino Bonalumi (1935-2013) Agostino Bonalumi was born on July 10, 1935, in Vimercate, Milan. He was a self-taught painter who took up art after abandoning his formal studies of technical and mechanic design. In 1956 he had his first solo exhibition at the Galleria Totti in Milan. While visiting the studio of painter Enrico Baj, he met Piero Manzoni and Enrico Castellani, with whom he exhibited in Rome, Lausanne, and Milan in 1958. The following year, he founded the journal Azimuth with Castellani and began to frequent Lucio Fontana’s studio, which led him to investigate issues of space and to produce his first ‘estroflessioni’. Bonalumi referred to them as Picture-Objects; they were made from structures and frames, which, when placed at the backs of canvases, caused them to stretch and deform. In the 1960s he turned to environmental objects, or work in which the viewer could actively take part. His most important pieces of this type are Blu abitabile (1967), Grande ambiente bianco e nero (1968), and Ambiente pittura dal giallo al bianco e dal bianco al giallo (1979). He participated in the Venice Biennale several times, first in 1966, then in1970 with a room to himself, and again in 1986. In 1980 the Palazzo Te in Mantova mounted a major retrospective of his work, and the following year, Bonalumi joined artists Dorazio, Rotella, and Santomaso in the group show Italian Art: Four Contemporary Directions at the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Bonalumi was also involved in set design, and in 1970 he designed both the sets and costumes for Susanna Egri’s ballet Partita, staged at the Teatro Romano of Verona, and in 1972 the scenes and costumes for the ballet Rot, held at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome. He was awarded the Presidente della Repubblica Prize in 2002, and on this occasion the Accademia Nazionale di S. Luca presented a retrospective of his work at the Palazzo Carpegna, Rome. The same year he took part in the exhibition Themes and Variations at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. In 2003 an exhibition of his work took place at the Civica Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Gallarate, and he took part in the show Futuro Italiano at the European Parliament in Brussels during the Italian presidency of the European Union. Most recently, in 2003-04, a solo exhibition of the artist’s work was held at the Institut Mathildenhöe, Darmstadt. Agostino Bonalumi died on September 18, 2013. .