Open Studio #1
L’inizio del tempo
Le ricerche spazialiste di Arnaldo Pomodoro
curated by Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro
March 6 - December 18, 2022
Studio Arnaldo Pomodoro, Via Vigevano 3, Milan
With the exhibition The Beginning of Time. Arnaldo Pomodoro’s Spatialist Research, on March 6, 2022, the Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro kicks off a new cycle of Open Studio, temporary installations in the Studio of Arnaldo Pomodoro that, on an annual basis, tell and deepen lesser-known themes and periods of the artist's research, displaying works, documents, and original archival materials.
The protagonist of the first Open Studio is The Beginning of Time No. 2 (1958 – 230 × 270 cm), a large bas-relief in lead, zinc, and tin, originating from Cologne and restored in 2021.
In this emblematic work, which already highlights the shift away from the Informal, Pomodoro explores the spatial development of a surface no longer structured by the sign-writing that characterized his early works, but instead concrete and substantial, animated by a gestural and absolute sign.
Alongside L’inizio del tempo, the exhibition will feature a group of sculptures, drawings and design studies – some on loan from the CSAC of Parma – as well as numerous archival materials (photographs, catalogs, magazines, press clippings, correspondence...), in an exhibition that traces the genesis of the work and the period of activity between 1957 and 1964, leading up to the realization of Grande omaggio alla civiltà tecnologica (1960-1964 – 24 × 8 m) for the facade of the University of Cologne, a poetic synthesis between investigations of sign-writing and sign-matter, for which the unpublished design collages will be displayed.
In the Grande omaggio – the artist’s first foray into architectural and urban concerns – Pomodoro brings to sculpture, on the vast surface of cement and bronze, a perforation of touches, cavities, knots, marks, and imprints: an unreadable language, rich in history, almost symbolic, and at the same time foreshadowing the circuits of the first “electronic brains”.
Starting from Wednesday, November 16, and continuing until the end of the exhibition, the display path will expand with the Focus d’Archivio on La segretaria dell’astronauta, one of the artist's garments designed in 1961 by Arnaldo Pomodoro for the collection Modelli – Forme – Idee by the seamstress Bruna Bini. Deteriorated over time and irreparably destroyed, La segretaria dell’astronauta has been the subject of a remaking authorized by the artist to commemorate his playful encounter with the world of fashion. It will be on display until the end of the exhibition next to La macchina del tempo (1960 – 145 × 150 cm), a bas-relief from which the garment took its extravagant form, dominated by the smooth tubular element, quite unusual in the artist's catalog. Set up in conjunction with the garment's remake, the Focus d’Archivio tells its story through evocative period photographs, magazines, drawings, and other materials of various kinds.
Info and how to access the exhibition
When: one Thursday a month and on the Sundays of special openings, from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM and from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM (last entry half an hour before closing).
Where: entrance and ticket purchase at the Foundation’s Bookshop, located at Via Vigevano 9.
Tickets: full price €5 / free for students under 26 and Foundation members.
Free guided tour of the exhibition: on opening days, at 11:30 AM and 5:30 PM (the tour is included in the entrance ticket).
The rooms of Studio Arnaldo Pomodoro are not entirely accessible to people with serious motor disabilities
Under the patronage of
In collaboration with
