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Arnaldo Pomodoro

Biography

Arnaldo Pomodoro was born in Montefeltro in 1926, he spent his childhood and education in Pesaro. He lives and works in Milan since 1954. His works from the 1950s are high-reliefs where a unique and previously unknown sculptural “writing” emerged, variously interpreted by the most important critics. In the early 1960s he turned to three-dimensional work and focused his research into the solid geometric form: spheres, discs, pyramids, cones, columns, cubes – all in burnished bronze – are lacerated, corroded, excavated in their depths, with the intention of destroying their perfection and discovering the mystery closed within. The formal juxtaposition between the shiny perfection of their geometric shape and the chaotic complexity of their insides from now on becomes a constant in Pomodoro’s production.

In 1966, he was commissioned to make a sphere, three and a half metres in diameter, for the Expo in Montreal. Now in front of the Farnesina in Rome, it marks his shift towards monumental sculpture. This was the first of several works by the artist placed in symbolically important public spaces: in many city squares (Milan, Copenhagen, Brisbane, Los Angeles, Darmstadt), in front of Trinity College, Dublin, Mills College in California, the Cortile della Pigna in the Vatican, opposite the United Nations in New York, at the Paris headquarters of UNESCO, in the PepsiCo sculpture gardens in Purchase, and in those of the Storm King Art Center in Mountainville, just outside New York City.

Da sinistra, Arnaldo Pomodoro con Pierluigi Cerri, Giorgio Marconi e Francesco Leonetti (ph. Carlo Orsi)

He has made many environmental works, ranging from the Progetto per il Cimitero di Urbino (Project for the New Cemetery of Urbino) of 1973, excavated into a hill in Urbino, which was, however, never built, due to local issues and disagreements, and Moto terreno solare, a long concrete wall for Il Simposio di Minoa in Marsala, through to the Sala d'Armi for the Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan, Ingresso nel labirinto(Entering the Labyrinth), dedicated to the epic of Gilgamesh, which he completed in 2011, and Carapace, a wine cellar in Bevagna made for the Lunelli family.

Memorable retrospectives have consolidated his reputation as one of the most significant contemporary artists. His traveling exhibitions have toured throughout Europe, America, Australia and Japan. He has dedicated himself to set design since the start of his activities and created “spectacular machines” for numerous theatrical works, from Greek tragedy to melodrama, from contemporary theatre to music.
He has taught in the art departments at various American universities: Stanford University, University of California at Berkeley, Mills College.

He has been the recipient of many prestigious awards: the Sculpture Prizes at the Biennials of São Paulo (1963) and Venice (1964); the Japan Art Association's 1990 Imperial Praemium for Sculpture, and the Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award from San Francisco’s International Sculpture Center (2008). In 1992 he received a degree in the humanities honoris causa from Trinity College Dublin, and in 2001 an honorary degree in architectural engineering from the University of Ancona.

For further information on the artist's life and activity and for any useful insight into his works, please refer to his Catalogue Raisonné.

Monographs

An essential selection of the most important monographic works that have marked the main stages in the critical history of Arnaldo Pomodoro. They are the major publications of an overall nature, fundamental for understanding his art, or those specifically dedicated to a significant aspect of his research, therefore the decisive landing points on his work.

For a complete bibliography and for any useful insight into the artist's works and activity please refer to his Catalogue Raisonné.

Arnaldo Pomodoro 1955-65, edited by Luca Massimo Barbero, Forma Edizioni, Florence, 2019
L’ingresso nel labirinto di Arnaldo Pomodoro, con-fine edizioni, Monghidoro, 2016
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Poesie per Arnaldo Pomodoro, edited by Bitta Leonetti, Eugenio Alberti Schatz, Gli Ori, Pistoia, 2016
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Arnaldo Pomodoro. 4 progetti visionari, edited by Aldo Colonetti and Ada Masoero, Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro, Milan, 2016
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Arnaldo Pomodoro, Forma, segno, spazio. Scritti e dichiarazioni sull’arte, edited by Stefano Esengrini, Maretti editore, Falciano, 2014
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Arnaldo Pomodoro. Carapace. La cantina della Tenuta Castelbuono, edited by Aldo Colonetti, Editrice Compositori, Bologna, 2012
Arnaldo Pomodoro. Il teatro scolpito, edited by Antonio Calbi, Feltrinelli and Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro, Milan, 2012
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Arnaldo Pomodoro. Grandi Opere 1972- 2008, Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro, Milan, 2008
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Ugo Mulas fotografa Arnaldo Pomodoro, Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro, Edizioni Olivares, Milan, 2008
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Arnaldo Pomodoro. Catalogo ragionato della scultura, edited by Flaminio Gualdoni, Skira, Milan, 2007
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Arnaldo Pomodoro, edited by Rudy Chiappini, Skira, Milan, 2004
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Arnaldo Pomodoro e il Museo Poldi Pezzoli. La Sala d’Armi, Edizioni Olivares, Milan, 2004
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Scritti critici per Arnaldo Pomodoro e opere dell’artista 1955-2000, edited by Laura Berra amde Bitta Leonetti, Lupetti Editore di comunicazione, Milan, 2000
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Arnaldo Pomodoro, edited by Renato Barilli, Il Vicolo Divisione Libri, Cesena, 1995
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Colpo d’ala di Arnaldo Pomodoro, Fratelli Palombi editori, Rome, 1989
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Il cimitero sepolto. Un progetto di Arnaldo Pomodoro per Urbino, edited by Francesco Leonetti, Feltrinelli Editore, Milan, 1982
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Libro per le sculture di Arnaldo Pomodoro, Gabriele Mazzotta editore, Milan, 1974
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Works around the world

This interactive map allows you to discover the artworks of Arnaldo Pomodoro, located in public spaces around the world, those that dialogue with the landscape, architecture and everyday life, those that are part of museum collections, those exhibited at various cultural institutions. The markers indicated on the map allow you to view the image of the work and the place where it is located, with the possibility, moreover, of a search structured according to different search keys and of any useful insight with direct links to the "Public" sections collections" and "Works" of the Catalogue Raisonné.