XLV Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte della Biennale - Venezia
Cardinal Points of Art
11 June – 15 October 1993
Venice, 45th International Art Exhibition of the Biennale
curated by Achille Bonito Oliva
Aldo Mondino’s participation in the 45th Venice Biennale in 1993 represents one of the high points of his artistic maturity, forming part of an edition that left its mark on the history of the Venice Biennale. Invited by director Achille Bonito Oliva as part of the international exhibition “Cardinal Points of Art”, Mondino found in this setting the ideal space to establish his reputation as a “cultural nomad”.
That year, the Biennale was celebrating the centenary of its foundation, and Bonito Oliva chose to dismantle the rigid concept of the national pavilion in favour of a transnational hybridisation. Mondino responded to this call by presenting his famous Sufis: a series of paintings on linoleum depicting whirling dervishes in prayer. These works, the result of his travels and a deep fascination with the East and Islamic mysticism, perfectly embodied the spirit of the exhibition, which sought to identify new aesthetic directions through dialogue between different civilisations.
The exhibition design highlighted not only his mastery of painting, but also his choice of industrial and humble materials, such as linoleum, which Mondino elevated through vibrant colour application and a concise, expressive style. His presence in Venice in 1993 was not merely a tribute to his career, but a demonstration of how irony and allusion could coexist with genuine spiritual exploration, making him one of the most lucid and original figures in charting the new paths of late-20th-century contemporary art.
Aldo Mondino at the exhibition "Cardinal Points of Art" at the 45th Venice International Art Exhibition.
Turcata nera, 1993
olio su linoleum
190 × 240 cm
Tappeti stesi, 1993
olio su tamburato
160 × 235 cm