Aldo Mondino. Quadrettature e non solo 1963-1972

from 24 February 2018 to 14 April 2018

Firenze

Mostra organizzata in collaborazione con la Galleria Santo Ficara in occasione di una doppia personale sull'artista nella città di Firenze

The Santo Ficara Gallery, which has followed Aldo Mondino’s work for many years, and the Il Ponte Gallery, which over the years has amassed a significant collection of works created between 1963 and 1964, are presenting a double solo exhibition in Florence in collaboration with the Aldo Mondino Archive.

In its ‘Homage’, the Santo Ficara Gallery presents works selected from its collection spanning a vast period of time, from ‘Russian October’ (1965/66) to ‘Applause’ (2004), touching upon the themes that most captivated the artist’s painting: ‘Das Meer’ (1980), Eiffel Safariana (1989), Turcatina (2001), Pittore d'insegne (2001), Tauromachia (2003), Mosaico (2003), Danza Sufi (2004).

The Il Ponte gallery, on the other hand, presents only works created between 1963 and 1964/5. Quadrettature, Monocromi, Casorati, Onde, which represent, through his oblique approach to Pop Art, the artist’s first major breakthrough; in 1964, he exhibited precisely these works at the Galleria Gian Enzo Sperone in Turin and at Gian Tomaso Liverani’s Galleria La Salita.

As Alberto Fiz wrote a few years ago: “The problem is still, as always, that of painting. […] Whatever move he makes, Mondino is able to catch us off guard, as has been the case throughout his forty-year artistic career. His is a complex game, where the conventions of art are continually challenged. […] The Turin-based artist explores the hidden meaning of the image by capturing its unconscious nature, without renouncing an authentically decorative representation based on the idea of decoration held by Henri Matisse—an idea that Western painting has often rejected. No concessions to trends, no conceptual temptations, no need to adhere to an aesthetic model, but rather a mental journey that passes through canvas, brushes and linoleum. […] Yet we must not forget the fundamental element underpinning all of Mondino’s work: the paradox. […] Everything shifts into another dimension, aimed at capturing the multifaceted aspect of the image along the path opened up by Dadaism and Surrealism.” (Alberto Fiz, Il Paradosso della pittura, Milan 2002)

Aldo Mondino. Quadrettature e non solo 1963-1972