On display 49 works divided into 4 sections
One of the most awaited exhibitions of the year, and in my opinion one of the most successful, opened its doors in Fondazione Prada headquarters in Milan: “Pino Pascali”, curated by Mark Godfrey.
The last major exhibition of one of the most precocious and brilliant Italian authors was held 4 years ago in Venice on the occasion of the Biennale and, again at this one, the attention is focused on the artist who passed away at the age of 33. Also from the commercial point of view its auctions are uphill and this thanks to the tireless work of study and research promoted by the Foundation that bears his name.
The exhibition occupies 3 buildings and is divided into 4 sections where, in addition to its 49 artworks, the relationship between Pascali’s production and that of his colleagues is analysed.
IN THE EXHIBITION RECREATED 5 HISTORICAL SHOWS
At the beginning of the tour we meet a room in which 5 historical exhibitions are recreated - from the Galleria la Tartaruga (1965) to the Galleria Gian Enzo Sperone (1966) and the two exhibitions at the Galleria L’Attico (1966-1968). We understand, from this first section, how the exhibition is for Pascali not only the opportunity to build an exhibition in which to put together all the new artworks, but a way to give life to imaginative environments. For example, in the reenactment of the exhibition by Gian Enzo Sperone are gathered all the sculptures with weapons, from machine guns to anti-aircraft guns and from cannons to missiles, and the feeling is to be in a trench and hear the din of gunfire and explosions.
Going up to the second floor we find a section on the Biennale of 1968, edition in which Pino Pascali won the Golden Lion, who passed away just the previous month. This was the first post-mortem award in the history of the Venetian exhibition.
FOCUS ALSO ON THE WORKS EXHIBITED AT THE VENICE BIENNALE IN 1968, WHEN HE WON THE GOLDEN LION
This is followed by an in-depth analysis of the materials used in the sculptures and continuous parallels are made, even if only using bibliographic documents, with the artists who in the same years used the same materials. The third section deals with some of the most significant works compared to the photographs by Claudio Abate, Ugo Mulas and Andrea Taverna that portray Pascali while interacting with his works. We see the Apulian artist who crouches under the Vedova Blu, who lies next to the Bachi da setola and hops in the middle of the 32 mq di mare circa of the GNAM of Rome. These photos do not want to be instruction booklets that indicate to visitors the poses to be taken in front of the sculptures, but only a suggestion on how to interact in a personal and original way. The elegant curatorial choice to suspend the introductory texts only in this section does not go unnoticed, precisely in order to encourage free interpretation.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY CLAUDIO ABATE, UGO MULAS AND ANDREA TAVERNA PORTRAY THE ARTIST WHILE INTERACTING WITH HIS WORKS
The exhibition ends with a large room where the best performers of those ‘60s are put together in the same Pascali’s language as Mario Ceroli, Agostino Bonalumi, Piero Gilardi, Alighiero Boetti, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Jannis Kounellis and Luciano Fabbro.
The exhibition will be open until September 23rd.
