“Lucio Fontana: Alle Radici dello spazialismo” - an exhibition of oil paintings, watercolors, ceramics, drawings, and, even a dress from the 1930s through the 1960s - will be on display at New York University’s Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò (24 W. 12th Street) from November 6 through December 17. Co-hosting the exhibition is the Italian Cultural Institute (686 Park Avenue) where some of the works will be on display as well. Gallery hours at Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò are weekdays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; for more information call 212.998.3851.
This show presents the works of one of the most influential Italian artists of the 20th century. Fontana, along with the “Spazialisti” (spatialists) of his generation, explored and in some way created a new dimension of visual arts. If Italian artists of the Renaissance created, with the invention of perspective, the illusion of a third dimension on canvas, Fontana gave a tangible, tactile strength to this third dimension. Inspired by architectural and special environments such as New York City and Venice, his works are characterized by perforations cut in canvas, scratched metal sculpture, and ceramics.
The exhibition aims to document Fontana’s artistic versatility and allows the public to explore, in depth, the multifaceted aspects of his artistic production.
The exhibition is held on the occasion of the Guggenheim Museum’s “Lucio Fontana: Venice/New York” (October 10, 2006-January 21, 2007). It is curated by Renato Miracco and sponsored by Maurice Kanbar; art consulting by Isabella Del Frate Rayburn. The catalogue is curated by Miracco and published by Gangemi for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Italy.