Exhibition
The Gallant Apparel - Italian Art and the Modern - Robilant + Voena
The Gallant Apparel exhibition is a twentieth century Italian art exhibition that is coinciding with the many cultural events in London during October. Taking as its point of departure Lucio Fontana’s Spatialism, proclaimed in his Manifestos of 1947 and 1948, ‘THE GALLANT APPAREL: Italian Art and the Modern’ charts a line through the main exponents of Italian modern and contemporary art from Lucio Fontana to Ettore Spalletti, and examines the development of ideas about art and its production in Italy from the late 1950s right through to the 1990s.
The exhibition will explore the fascination with surface, texture and thee-dimensionality in painting prevalent amongst many of these artists, whether it be through Fontana’s revolutionary Buchi or Tagli (holes or slashes), or through Castellani and Bonalumi’s protrusions, the overlaid constructions of Scheggi and Bianco, or the cut canvases of Dadamaino.
Special attention will be given to Fontana, represented by six important paintings and sculptures, as the catalyst for the most significant debate in midcentury Italian art and a vital inspiration for those who followed him. Three artists for whom Fontana’s influence was paramount were Manzoni, Bonalumi and Castellani, who in turn created their own platform (Gallery Azimut) for showing art which interrogated the limits of physicality and the art world’s obsession with permanence, directly prefiguring conceptual art. Paolini’s conceptual research into art as mirroring or self-reflection, will also be addressed, as will De Dominici’s ‘figurative conceptualism’. Mario Merz will be represented by a rare 11 piece photography and light installation not seen in public since Documeta 5, 1972.
More information on The Gallant Apparel can be found by checking out the website below
