One of Italy’s most prestigious art spaces, Mazzoleni Galleria d’Arte, opens its new London gallery with a showcase of iconic works by major post-war Italian masters. For its inaugural exhibition, the entire 3,000 square foot space of Mazzoleni Art is occupied by some of the most significant practitioners from the post-war period, such as Agostino Bonalumi, Alberto Burri, Enrico Castellani, Lucio Fontana, Piero Manzoni and Paolo Scheggi. These artists contributed to the evolution of a new aesthetic and raised the profile of Italian art internationally through painting that used the defining visual and conceptual elements of colour, industrial materials and the iconography of the monochrome.
Highlights of the gallery’s opening show include Concetto Spaziale, Attesa (1965) by Lucio Fontana, a painter, sculptor, ceramist and founder of the Spazialismo movement, and Superficie Bianca (1969) by Enrico Castellani, who was associated with Movimento Arte Nucleare and is best known for his paintings of light. There is also R1 (1953) by leading abstract painter Alberto Burri, Achrome (1957-1958) by Piero Manzoni, who is best known for his ironic approach to avant-garde art and influence upon the later Arte Povera movement, and Bianco (1975) by Agostino Bonalumi, who worked with Fontana, Castellani, Burri and Manzoni to develop the idea of painting as object.
In its entirety, the exhibition surveys the relationship between Italian Post-War contemporaries, as well as the similarities, disparities and influences between their practices. Post-War Italian Masters provides a broad overview of the period, in addition to deep insights into the work of Italy’s leading masters of the 1950s.
Post-War Italian Masters, until 19 December, Mazzoleni Art, 27 Albemarle Street, London
Further information can be found at www.mazzoleniart.com
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Credits
1. Alberto Burri , R 1, 1953. Courtesy of Mazzoleni Art, London
