Mappamondino
from 24 June 2007 to 26 August 2007
Repubblica di San Marino
Borsalino Williamsburg, 1991
olio su linoleum
190 × 140 cm
From 23 June 2007, the Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art of the Republic of San Marino presents *Mappamondino*, a solo exhibition by Aldo Mondino, in collaboration with the Aldo Mondino Archive.
The exhibition, curated by Vittoria Coen, summarises some key stages in the career of the great Turin-born artist who passed away in 2005. It is a retrospective bringing together a significant selection of works created between the first half of the 1960s and the first half of the 2000s.
Aldo Mondino began his highly personal artistic journey in the first half of the 1960s as a proponent of the Conceptual Movement, before gradually turning his attention to a decidedly more pictorial approach. From works on hardboard, for example, to his sculptures created using ever-changing materials, and finally his return to painting—primarily on linoleum and influenced by a deep fascination with the East, Africa, Morocco and India, not to mention the colourful patterns of chocolates that outline geographical locations and, at times, portraits, Mondino’s poetic universe is characterised by stylistic eclecticism and a profound irony that pervades his entire body of work. The wordplay (between Ali and Ali-ghiero Boetti) in titles and content is like his famous Whirling Dervishes, which seem suspended in a surreal space.
The exhibition, curated by Vittoria Coen, summarises some key stages in the career of the great Turin-born artist who passed away in 2005. It is a retrospective bringing together a significant selection of works created between the first half of the 1960s and the first half of the 2000s.
Aldo Mondino began his highly personal artistic journey in the first half of the 1960s as a proponent of the Conceptual Movement, before gradually turning his attention to a decidedly more pictorial approach. From works on hardboard, for example, to his sculptures created using ever-changing materials, and finally his return to painting—primarily on linoleum and influenced by a deep fascination with the East, Africa, Morocco and India, not to mention the colourful patterns of chocolates that outline geographical locations and, at times, portraits, Mondino’s poetic universe is characterised by stylistic eclecticism and a profound irony that pervades his entire body of work. The wordplay (between Ali and Ali-ghiero Boetti) in titles and content is like his famous Whirling Dervishes, which seem suspended in a surreal space.
His curiosity about distant cultures and traditions reflects a constant focus that has led the artist to employ diverse techniques, from linoleum surfaces to chocolate, from sugar to glass (the exhibition features nine beautiful Iznik pieces, depicting precious Turkish ceramics made in that city), to bronze (Eiffel) as well as Lobby Star, to carpets of Eraclite and those composed on the floor with coffee beans and beans, not to mention the work Gravère created with real sardines in the late 1960s.
The two retrospective exhibitions held respectively in Trento in 2000 and in Ravenna in 2003 then served to showcase simultaneously the rich and varied output of an artist who never ceased to question art and our times, who was Tancredi’s assistant and who ‘quoted’ Casorati (the famous Tenda from 1964 is on display), who loved Kupka as well as late 19th-century Orientalist painting, and who used his slight short-sightedness as a filter in his perception of the world, to the extent that he transformed even the most seemingly mundane objects into bold creations.
On display are around forty large and medium-sized two- and three-dimensional works that trace Aldo Mondino’s artistic career, from the Anatomical Tables to those created on grid patterns (Il pittore, 1963), right through to paintings of various subjects executed on linoleum and canvas.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue published by Damiani Editore.
The two retrospective exhibitions held respectively in Trento in 2000 and in Ravenna in 2003 then served to showcase simultaneously the rich and varied output of an artist who never ceased to question art and our times, who was Tancredi’s assistant and who ‘quoted’ Casorati (the famous Tenda from 1964 is on display), who loved Kupka as well as late 19th-century Orientalist painting, and who used his slight short-sightedness as a filter in his perception of the world, to the extent that he transformed even the most seemingly mundane objects into bold creations.
On display are around forty large and medium-sized two- and three-dimensional works that trace Aldo Mondino’s artistic career, from the Anatomical Tables to those created on grid patterns (Il pittore, 1963), right through to paintings of various subjects executed on linoleum and canvas.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue published by Damiani Editore.
Borsalino Williamsburg, 1991
olio su linoleum
190 × 140 cm
Pus pittura, 1962
tempera su masonite
66 × 52 cm
India, 2000
cioccolatini su tavola
300 × 300 cm
The Byzantine World, 1999
cioccolatini su tavola
190 × 240 cm
Pittura, 1963-1965
acrilico e pastelli su masonite
180 × 135 cm
Opere correlate
Nessuna opera correlata trovata