Pietro Consagra
Mazara del Vallo, Trapani, 1920 - Milano, 2005
Consagra is one of the founders of the "Forma" group that, in line with advanced European research and against the postulates of realism, affirms the values of an abstract expressive language. In his studio in Rome, he writes the manifesto of the Arte Nuova which will be published in the first issue of the magazine "Forma 1". Among the signatories are Accardi, Attardi, Dorazio, Guerrini, Perilli, Turcato.
He studied at the Academy of Arts in Palermo and in 1944 he moved to Rome where he formed friendships with Guttuso, Turcato and Mafai. In 1946 he was in Paris and visited the workshops of Brancusi, Hartung, Laurens and Adam. He came into contact with the young Ecole de Paris through Alberto Magnelli and Gildo Caputo, then director of the Galerie Billier.
Back home, in 1947 he was one of the founders of the group "Forma", which, in line with advanced European research and against the postulates of realism, affirms the values of an abstract expressive language. In his studio in Rome, he writes the manifesto of the Arte Nuova which will be published in the first issue of the magazine "Forma 1". Among the signatories are Accardi, Attardi, Dorazio, Guerrini, Perilli, Turcato.
Also in 1947 he participated in the first abstract art exhibition of the Gruppo Forma at the Galleria Art Club, while the following year he was given a solo show at the Galleria Sandri in Venice, which represented a bitter controversy against the Biennale. The works of this period are characterized by an abstract-geometric rigor that has its origins in the cubist decomposition. The technical mastery also allows Consagra to work with stone, metal and wood.
In 1949 he participated in the exhibition "Contemporary Sculpture" at Palazzo Venier dé Leoni in Venice, curated by Peggy Guggenheim, together with Arp, Brancusi, Giacometti.
Around 1950, the shapes made with rods, iron wire and flame-worked metal plates, allude figuratively to human beings and their social relationships.
Consagra is also a militant critic: in 1952 he published "Necessità della scultura" and collaborated on "Civiltà delle macchine".
Between 1954 and 1956 he participated in the XXVIII and XXIX Venice Biennale with works of the series Talks. In 1958 he held a solo exhibition at the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels and the World House in New York; he also received the Carnegie International Prize. In 1959 he was given a solo exhibition at the Galerie de France and the following year he received the International Grand Prize for Sculpture at the XXX Venice Biennale. In 1964-66 he worked on the Piani sospesi and Ferri trasparenti series. In 1967 he moved to America where he taught at the School of Art in Minneapolis.
A recovery of the linguistic-visual research of the first period, carried out according to the canons of aesthetic elegance, is again verifiable at the end of the 1960s, at the same time as its opening to new problems, He is invited to the exhibition "Sculptures from 20 Countries" at the Solomon Guggenhein Museum in New York and a solo exhibition at the Malborough Gallery in New York. He is invited to the exhibition.
In the book La città frontale, published by Di Donato, he theorizes the idea of the "Frontal Building", a city entirely created by artists. He returned to Italy and began working in Milan. In 1972 he began working marble. He participates with a personal room at the XXXVI Venice Biennale.
In 1980 he received the Mondello Special Prize for Autobiography Vita mia, published by Feltrinelli. In 1982 he participated in the XL Venice Biennale. In 1984 it was inaugurated its first Front Building, The Meeting, in the new Ghibelline, rebuilt after the earthquake of Belice. In 1986 he presented new projects of Front Buildings at the Lorenzelli Gallery in Milan.
In December 1987 Consagra exhibited at the Galleria Banchi Nuovi in Rome the series of the 20 Planets of which he explains the genesis: "Painting, I paint paintings with many images, every now and then there is one that fascinates me to the point of wanting to draw it out of that context only pictorial. So these works that I show now and that I called Planets were born" (cit. in De Candia, 1987).
Since the 1950s, painting and drawing were the field of analysts of frontality, of the contrast between figure and background, from which individual forms were detached to assume autonomous plastic consistency. In particular, the Planets, built on the surface by overlapping wooden sheets, refuse to enter the categories of painting and sculpture and the author defines in fact "sculptures out of place"In 1989 a major retrospective dedicated to him was held at the Galleria d'Arte Moderna in Rome. In 1991 a solo exhibition was opened at the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg. Two years later, the Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome dedicated a permanent room to him.
In December 1997 an anthological exhibition of the artist was held at the Darmastadt Museum, Institut Mathildenhôe, Germany.
In 2000 the Museion of Bolzano held a retrospective entitled "Consagra 1947-2000".
Museums:
Rome, Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea
Milan, Fondazione Luciana Matalon per l’Arte Contemporanea
Bibliography:
Enciclopedia Universale Seda della Pittura Moderna, Milano, Seda, 1969; M. De Micheli, Scultura italiana del dopoguerra, Milano, Schwarz, 1958
© Pietro Consagra, by SIAE 2023
Back home, in 1947 he was one of the founders of the group "Forma", which, in line with advanced European research and against the postulates of realism, affirms the values of an abstract expressive language. In his studio in Rome, he writes the manifesto of the Arte Nuova which will be published in the first issue of the magazine "Forma 1". Among the signatories are Accardi, Attardi, Dorazio, Guerrini, Perilli, Turcato.
Also in 1947 he participated in the first abstract art exhibition of the Gruppo Forma at the Galleria Art Club, while the following year he was given a solo show at the Galleria Sandri in Venice, which represented a bitter controversy against the Biennale. The works of this period are characterized by an abstract-geometric rigor that has its origins in the cubist decomposition. The technical mastery also allows Consagra to work with stone, metal and wood.
In 1949 he participated in the exhibition "Contemporary Sculpture" at Palazzo Venier dé Leoni in Venice, curated by Peggy Guggenheim, together with Arp, Brancusi, Giacometti.
Around 1950, the shapes made with rods, iron wire and flame-worked metal plates, allude figuratively to human beings and their social relationships.
Consagra is also a militant critic: in 1952 he published "Necessità della scultura" and collaborated on "Civiltà delle macchine".
Between 1954 and 1956 he participated in the XXVIII and XXIX Venice Biennale with works of the series Talks. In 1958 he held a solo exhibition at the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels and the World House in New York; he also received the Carnegie International Prize. In 1959 he was given a solo exhibition at the Galerie de France and the following year he received the International Grand Prize for Sculpture at the XXX Venice Biennale. In 1964-66 he worked on the Piani sospesi and Ferri trasparenti series. In 1967 he moved to America where he taught at the School of Art in Minneapolis.
A recovery of the linguistic-visual research of the first period, carried out according to the canons of aesthetic elegance, is again verifiable at the end of the 1960s, at the same time as its opening to new problems, He is invited to the exhibition "Sculptures from 20 Countries" at the Solomon Guggenhein Museum in New York and a solo exhibition at the Malborough Gallery in New York. He is invited to the exhibition.
In the book La città frontale, published by Di Donato, he theorizes the idea of the "Frontal Building", a city entirely created by artists. He returned to Italy and began working in Milan. In 1972 he began working marble. He participates with a personal room at the XXXVI Venice Biennale.
In 1980 he received the Mondello Special Prize for Autobiography Vita mia, published by Feltrinelli. In 1982 he participated in the XL Venice Biennale. In 1984 it was inaugurated its first Front Building, The Meeting, in the new Ghibelline, rebuilt after the earthquake of Belice. In 1986 he presented new projects of Front Buildings at the Lorenzelli Gallery in Milan.
In December 1987 Consagra exhibited at the Galleria Banchi Nuovi in Rome the series of the 20 Planets of which he explains the genesis: "Painting, I paint paintings with many images, every now and then there is one that fascinates me to the point of wanting to draw it out of that context only pictorial. So these works that I show now and that I called Planets were born" (cit. in De Candia, 1987).
Since the 1950s, painting and drawing were the field of analysts of frontality, of the contrast between figure and background, from which individual forms were detached to assume autonomous plastic consistency. In particular, the Planets, built on the surface by overlapping wooden sheets, refuse to enter the categories of painting and sculpture and the author defines in fact "sculptures out of place"In 1989 a major retrospective dedicated to him was held at the Galleria d'Arte Moderna in Rome. In 1991 a solo exhibition was opened at the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg. Two years later, the Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome dedicated a permanent room to him.
In December 1997 an anthological exhibition of the artist was held at the Darmastadt Museum, Institut Mathildenhôe, Germany.
In 2000 the Museion of Bolzano held a retrospective entitled "Consagra 1947-2000".
Museums:
Rome, Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea
Milan, Fondazione Luciana Matalon per l’Arte Contemporanea
Bibliography:
Enciclopedia Universale Seda della Pittura Moderna, Milano, Seda, 1969; M. De Micheli, Scultura italiana del dopoguerra, Milano, Schwarz, 1958
© Pietro Consagra, by SIAE 2023
