Works by three renowned Italian sculptors on view at Ronchini Gallery in London

LONDON.- Ronchini Gallery presents the works of three renowned Italian sculptors in their exhibition Colla, Pinna, Pomodoro. From the abstract, to the geometric to the figurative, the exhibition provides a survey of work by Ettore Colla, Alex Pinna, and Arnaldo Pomodoro, who are brought together for the first time in the UK by curator Marco Meneguzzo through 28 March 2013.

The exhibition introduces some of the most iconic works by these artists to a wider audience, allowing the viewer to surround themselves with billowing shapes and forms, drawing their own parallels to these succinct, yet diverse works. All of the sculptures draw on the artist’s tactile manipulation of raw materials to create constructions of space and form, elevating traditional materials to the status of a significant work of art that resides within the viewer’s space.

Gallery Director Lorenzo Ronchini states, “Although sculpture has been important throughout the history of art, it is often under-represented at the gallery level, which is why I am happy to bring together this strong exhibition devoted entirely to sculpture.”

Installation view of the exhibition at Ronchini Gallery

Ettore Colla’s (b. 1896, Parma; d. 1968, Rome) abstract assemblage sculpture is heavily influenced by Dadaism. By using found objects, such as recovered iron, Colla creates stately, industrial inspired sculptures with a unified composition. His work features in the permanent collections of: Tate Modern, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Rome, The Galleria di Palazzo Leoni Montanari, Vicenza, The Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin, The Mueso di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Trento, and The Vila Croce Museo di Arte Contemporanea, Genoa.

Alex Pinna’s (b. 1967, Imperia, Italy) sculptures investigate the interaction of the work in space, and are imbued with a sense of lightness, while remaining monumental. His most iconic works are elongated bronze figures, balanced precariously on one another or their surroundings. Pinna’s works have been exhibited at The Ermanno Tedeschi Gallery, Tel Aviv and Milan, The Palazzo Clerici, Milan, Mimmo Scognamiglio, Milan, the Fondazione Mimmo Rotella, Cantanzaro, and The Museo di arte Contemporanea, Tortoli, Palazzo Collicola, Spoleto.

Arnaldo Pomodoro’s (b. 1926, Morciano, Romagna, Italy) work is influenced by artists such as: Alberto Giacometti, Lucio Fontana, Louise Nevelson and David Smith. He is most known for his work with geometric shapes, such as the column, cube, pyramid, sphere and disc. In 1963 he was awarded the International Sculpture Prize at the Sao Paulo Biennale followed by a solo show at the Venice Biennial, 1964. In 2008 he was awarded the International Sculpture Center’s Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award. His work is in the permanent collections of The Vatican Museum, The United Nations Headquarters, New York, The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C, The Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, and the Guggenheim, New York.

Marco Meneguzzo is an Independent Curator and Professor of Contemporary Art at Brera Academy of Fine Arts, Milan. Previous roles include Commissioner of the Rome Quadrennial in 1986, Artistic Director of the Paolo Pini Art Museum of Milan and Consultant for the International Fair of Contemporary Art, Milan. He has participated in more than 100 exhibitions, solo and group shows, in both public and private spaces and contributed to a number of catalogues for exhibitions held at the Padigline D’arte Contemporanea, and the Civic Museum of Contemporary Art, Milan. As an art critic he has contributed to a wide range of art and culture magazines including Flash Art, Alfabeta, Abitare, Vogue Italy and Artforum. His extensive knowledge and research into modern and contemporary art has been compiled into a series of art history textbooks. In 2005, he published The Italian Sculpture of the Twentieth Century to coincide with an exhibition of the same auspices, which he guest curated at the Arnadlo Pomodoro Foundation, Milan.

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