Arnaldo Pomodoro. Grandi Opere 1972-2008

Fifteen works – some of which are unpublished, such as the Grande Portale Marco Polo (1988–2008 – Catalogue Raisonné no. 837) – guide the audience through an unprecedented journey, curated by Bruno Corà, among the monumental sculptures created by Arnaldo Pomodoro from the 1970s until the beginning of the new century.

Beginning close to the lessons of the great protagonists of early twentieth-century avant-garde art – states Bruno Corà – Pomodoro’s art has traced an original path, becoming aware of the shift in meaning that occurred in art after the Second World War. With the advent of technologically advanced society, his work has thus been defined up to the present day, opening to an increasing drama visualized through his content and formal vocabulary. His enigmatic alphabets have equally occupied both his sculptures and the popular imagination, becoming, especially with his “large” works, a popular language.

In 1967, with my Large Sphere (three and a half meters in diameter) for the Montreal Expo, now in Rome in front of the Farnesina, I tackled the monumental scale – states Arnaldo Pomodoro –: many monumental sculptures have followed. For me, in fact, the greatest aspiration is to place my works outdoors, among the people, in squares and green spaces, seeking a profound interaction between the space of architecture and landscape and that of sculpture. Sometimes I have referred to myth with the intent of showing in the work, through my language of abstract expressionism, the universe of man and his symbols, in relation to the earth and the lasting nature of its testimony.

The initiative allows the public to access monumental works usually scattered around the world that are now for the first time gathered in one place, at one time: that of the Foundation and its visitors. As a testament to Arnaldo Pomodoro’s connection with his adopted city, the exhibition is linked to a route connecting the artist’s sculptures located in public places throughout Milan.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue published by the Foundation, featuring a critical essay by Bruno Corà, photographs by Carlo Orsi documenting even the installation phases, and critical notes by Lorenzo Respi.