MILAN.- A arte Invernizzi gallery opened Dimensionare lo spazio [Dimensioning Space], an exhibition curated by Lorenzo Madaro. The show invites viewers to reflect on the concept of sculpture as a reshaping of physical space, with works that achieve three-dimensionality by altering visual perception.
Dimensionare lo spazio explores the boundaries and research areas of both sculpture and painting that are capable of prompting reflections on form and space. The artists involved explore the very roots of artistic language, investigating light, movement and geometry, as well as its collapse. They also examine the interplay between the two-dimensional nature of the wall and the expanded view of the architecture, highlighting the particular qualities that sculpture constantly embodies.
Within the dichotomous and dynamic relationship between form and space lies a destabilising yet fascinating debate that also extends to a purely theoretical level. Among artists in Italy, Nicola Carrino played a pivotal role in this discourse both practically and theoretically. The title of this exhibition is indeed drawn from Carrino’s belief that “Sculpture is an act of transformation, an essential tool for the ongoing occupation and dimensioning of space.” As the art critic Franco Sossi points out in his Luce Spazio Strutture (1967), the underlying assumptions of these artistic explorations can be traced back to the Constructivism of the 1910s. Sculpture thus becomes a language that generates experiences, serving as a precursor to architecture that goes beyond its usual boundaries. And yet it is a language that exists only in relation to its setting. The artwork itself embodies space, actively creating it.
On the upper floor of the gallery is a display with a series of marble sculptures entitled Sospiri by Antonio Trotta (Stio 1937-2019 Milan). These fluid forms evoke the profiles of sheets of paper from some undefined era - whether from some timeless, eternal future or relics of a past that is still unfolding. Arcangelo Sassolino (b. 1967, Vicenza), an artist who adopts a material-oriented approach, presents cement sculptures that explore sinuous profiles and shapes, unravelling in interactions with the geometries of white neon light installations by François Morellet (Cholet, France, 1926-2016 Cholet). In the 1950s Morellet liberated contemporary art from narrative obligations and pursued a radical and experimental form of artistic expression. At the centre of the exhibition room is a work by Nicola Carrino (Taranto 1932-2018 Rome), who always worked with the essential nature of modular forms, rigorously designed yet open to recomposition at the artist’s discretion. These works alternate the solids and voids of the elements that make up the space that they interact with. In the adjacent room, Luce/Ombra + X (1981) by Gianni Colombo (Milan 1937-1993 Melzo), a founding member of Gruppo T, creates an immersive environment. This work by Colombo, who explored the relationship between space, time, and perception from 1959 onwards, invites viewers to let themselves go and reconsider their relationship with the artwork.
The works of Michel Verjux (b. 1956, Chalon-sur-Saône, France) and Igino Legnaghi (b. 1936, Verona) create a connection between the upper and lower floors of the gallery. Verjux’s luminous projections, known as éclairages, transform light into form, environment, and space, altering both the architecture and our relationship with it. Then there is a wall sculpture by Legnaghi, who has placed mathematical harmony at the heart of his sculptural practice.
On the lower floor, there are site-specific works by Gianni Asdrubali (b. 1955, Tuscania) and David Tremlett (b. 1945, St Austell, Cornwall). Asdrubali activates the space with the energy and intensity of his action, which is forceful and yet gentle, fluid and disorderly, creating a sort new skin on the walls he works on, engaging in a physical grappling with the space his works occupy. Tremlett, on the other hand, presents a wall drawing in graphite and pastel, constructing forms that appear to float, carefully considering the architecture while also reflecting his own personal experience. The wall-mounted works enter into a dialogue with Stacked (vertical corner) by Lesley Foxcroft (b. 1949, Sheffield, UK). Here, individual modules of black MDF are arranged vertically, marking out a corner of the gallery and creating an idealised architecture. Alongside this is the Gnomoni installation by Grazia Varisco (b. 1937, Milan), who still today continues with her tireless investigation of materials and sculptural forms, examining their behaviour within an exquisitely precise project design. Her work reflects a harmonious fusion of experimentation and intellectual inquiry. Finally, the gallery presents Scultura ‘96 by Mauro Staccioli (Volterra 1937-2018 Milan), an artist who, from the late 1960s, explored the dialectical nature of sculpture as a medium that creates a connection between art and society.
A bilingual catalogue has been published in conjunction with the exhibition, with an essay by Lorenzo Madaro, professor of Contemporary Art History at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan. The catalogue also includes reproductions of the artworks on display.
