Aldo Mondino: nomade a Milano
from 05 June 2013 to 19 July 2013
Milano
Aldo Mondino: nomade a Milano
Following Aldo Mondino ’s solo exhibition held in 1990 at the Fondazione Mudima in Milan, 23 years on, a significant selection of works curated by Achille Bonito Oliva and in collaboration withthe Aldo Mondino Archive is being presented once again at the same venue. From 28 May to 19 July, the exhibition features some of the large-scale installations created for that historic occasion, as well as selected works from the Turin-born artist’s (1938–2005) best-known series.
As a testament to the period the artist spent in Paris from 1959 to 1960, years in which he attended the École du Louvre and befriended Tancredi, coming into contact with the intellectual milieu of the time, the exhibition features the bronze sculpture Tour Eiffel (approx. 2.40 m high), a veritable assemblage of the most disparate objects from his studio forming an ironic homage to the symbol of the French capital. Alongside the other bronze sculpture, Arabesque, the entrance to the exhibition is marked by the presence of Ittiodromo, a powerful installation from 1967 that juxtaposes a children’s slide with a real, large fish left to drip onto the surface.
From 1963 – when he returned to Italy, and on the occasion of the 1964 exhibition at the Galleria Sperone in Turin – the themes of play and childhood became recurring features in his artistic practice, which began to treat the relationship with the public as an active means of participation in the work.
Reflection on the history of painting and on techniques became the central element of many works, such as the one featuring balloons exhibited here, from the series created in 1965 for the Galleria Stein in Turin. The playful and participatory element is, moreover, present throughout his subsequent work, accompanied by the use of non-pictorial, ephemeral and sometimes edible materials which, as he himself stated: “are the result of that myopic dimension, of that distance that makes me see an object from afar which, up close, becomes something else…”. This is evidenced by the installations made with toffee, chocolate or sugar, such as the spectacular Wailing Wall ( 4x6.40 m) made of sugar and constructed in the courtyard of Mudima, the space entirely covered in marshmallows created in the basement swimming pool, or the floor installation Raccolto in preghiera, a huge prayer rug made from dozens of different grains. In dialogue with the latter, on a large wall, are displayed the famous Carpets made from Heraclite, a material used in construction, in bright colours: layered and juxtaposed, they lend the rooms of the Milanese space the kaleidoscope of colours of a phantasmagorical Middle Eastern souk.
Constantly shifting in its references and in its play on clichés, the exhibition thus also explores that part of Mondino’s work influenced by the oriental and exotic impressions gathered during his many travels from Morocco to Palestine. This element is also present in the exhibition in the works dedicated to the Whirling Dervishes, where Mondino glimpses, as he has written, “…a fascinating parallel between prayer and the intensity of focus in conceptual painting, falling in love with the exalted prayer of the Dervishes’ dances”.
The large 2005 installation dedicated to The Orchid Hunters, comprising three large greenhouses and situated on the ground floor, reaffirms that blend of nostalgia for the exotic, for the mysterious arcane, and the inevitable irony that characterises the work of one of the most significant Italian artists in contemporary art.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue published by Mudima Edizioni, featuring texts by Achille Bonito Oliva, Gianluca Ranzi and a selection of texts by Aldo Mondino.
Milan
Fondazione Mudima
Via Tadino 26
from 5 June to 19 July 2013
Opening: Tuesday 4 June, 6.30 pm
free admission
curated by Achille Bonito Oliva
As a testament to the period the artist spent in Paris from 1959 to 1960, years in which he attended the École du Louvre and befriended Tancredi, coming into contact with the intellectual milieu of the time, the exhibition features the bronze sculpture Tour Eiffel (approx. 2.40 m high), a veritable assemblage of the most disparate objects from his studio forming an ironic homage to the symbol of the French capital. Alongside the other bronze sculpture, Arabesque, the entrance to the exhibition is marked by the presence of Ittiodromo, a powerful installation from 1967 that juxtaposes a children’s slide with a real, large fish left to drip onto the surface.
From 1963 – when he returned to Italy, and on the occasion of the 1964 exhibition at the Galleria Sperone in Turin – the themes of play and childhood became recurring features in his artistic practice, which began to treat the relationship with the public as an active means of participation in the work.
Reflection on the history of painting and on techniques became the central element of many works, such as the one featuring balloons exhibited here, from the series created in 1965 for the Galleria Stein in Turin. The playful and participatory element is, moreover, present throughout his subsequent work, accompanied by the use of non-pictorial, ephemeral and sometimes edible materials which, as he himself stated: “are the result of that myopic dimension, of that distance that makes me see an object from afar which, up close, becomes something else…”. This is evidenced by the installations made with toffee, chocolate or sugar, such as the spectacular Wailing Wall ( 4x6.40 m) made of sugar and constructed in the courtyard of Mudima, the space entirely covered in marshmallows created in the basement swimming pool, or the floor installation Raccolto in preghiera, a huge prayer rug made from dozens of different grains. In dialogue with the latter, on a large wall, are displayed the famous Carpets made from Heraclite, a material used in construction, in bright colours: layered and juxtaposed, they lend the rooms of the Milanese space the kaleidoscope of colours of a phantasmagorical Middle Eastern souk.
Constantly shifting in its references and in its play on clichés, the exhibition thus also explores that part of Mondino’s work influenced by the oriental and exotic impressions gathered during his many travels from Morocco to Palestine. This element is also present in the exhibition in the works dedicated to the Whirling Dervishes, where Mondino glimpses, as he has written, “…a fascinating parallel between prayer and the intensity of focus in conceptual painting, falling in love with the exalted prayer of the Dervishes’ dances”.
The large 2005 installation dedicated to The Orchid Hunters, comprising three large greenhouses and situated on the ground floor, reaffirms that blend of nostalgia for the exotic, for the mysterious arcane, and the inevitable irony that characterises the work of one of the most significant Italian artists in contemporary art.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue published by Mudima Edizioni, featuring texts by Achille Bonito Oliva, Gianluca Ranzi and a selection of texts by Aldo Mondino.
Milan
Fondazione Mudima
Via Tadino 26
from 5 June to 19 July 2013
Opening: Tuesday 4 June, 6.30 pm
free admission
curated by Achille Bonito Oliva
Opere correlate
Nessuna opera correlata trovata