Hauser & Wirth Spotlights Lucio Fontana’s Prolific Breakthroughs in the Medium of Sculpture

In 1961, Lucio Fontana had his first solo show in the US at the legendary art dealers Martha Jackson and David Anderson gallery at 32 East 69th Street in New York. The prolific Argentine-Italian artist that experimented with forms and mediums, Fontana is primarily known through his slashed canvases, although his sculptural works are equally fascinating and innovative. 

For the second exhibition in a planned trilogy, Hauser & Wirth returns to the original location of Fontana's first US exhibition with a show dedicated to his sculptural experiments, charting his artistic trajectory from the 1920s to his late works from the 1960s.

Experiments in Sculpture

The exhibition features over 80 works on loan from major institutions, museums, and private and public collectors. By focusing on Lucio Fontana's sculptural works, the show highlights this critical aspect of his practice that is rarely explored outside of Europe. 

Known mainly for his Tagli or Slashes in the US — standing for experiments with slashed canvases — Fontana also experimented with sculpture, which formed an integral part of his artistic project. He used sculpture to test and put into practice the exchange between form, colour, space, and matter. He also experimented with styles and often combined abstract and figurative forms with baroque opulence and spatial considerations. 

A Glimpse Inside the Exhibition 

The exhibition opens with a painting that defies categorization, Concetto spaziale, La luna a Venezia (Spatial Concept, The Moon in Venice), 1961, juxtaposed with drawings Fontana made upon his initial visit to New York City. 

Nudo (Nude), 1926, is a rarely seen sculpture that continues the presentation at Hauser & Wirth, together with the exploration of Fontana's pivotal works from the 1930s, including Tavoletta graffita (Incised Panel), 1931, Figura alla finestra (Figure at the Window), 1931, Scultura astratta (Abstract Sculpture), 1934, Conchiglie e Farfalle (Shells and Butterflies), 1935-36, and Cavalli marini (Seahorses), 1936. 

These sculptures are preludes to Fontana's later experiments during the 1940s, marked by abstract and figurative explorations — Scultura spaziale (Spatial Sculpture), 1947, and Figura femminile con fiori (Female Figure with Flowers), 1948.

The exhibition's second floor illustrates Fonatana's experiments with Spatial Concepts (a title he used for his spatialist works) and unique treatment of matter and colour. The works on view include Concetto spaziale (Spatial Concept),1949, the artist's rare and one of the first linen papers punctured with holes, and the multiform terracotta sculptures of the 1950s and 1960s and such as Battaglie (Battles) or Arlecchino (Harlequin), 1948 – 49.

The final floor of the exhibition hosts Fontana's works from the 1950s and 1960s, including a grouping of Concetto spaziale, Natura (Spatial Concept, Nature) sculptures lacerated by paths, which illustrate his spatial philosophy. The exhibition closes with his late, mechanically executed works that demonstrate the final phase of the artist's aesthetic inquiries, such as Ellissi (Ellipses), 1967, and sculptures in metal.

Lucio Fontana at Hauser & Wirth

The exhibition Lucio Fontana. Sculpture will be on view at Hauser & Wirth in New York from November 3rd, 2022, until February 4th, 2023. It is curated by Luca Massimo Barbero, in collaboration with the Fondazione Lucio Fontana, and accompanied by a new, fully illustrated catalogue. 

Featured image: Lucio Fontana - Battaglia, [Battle], 1947-1948, Glazed terracotta 12 x 30 x 18 cm / 4 3/4 x 11 3/4 x 7 1/8 in © Fondazione Lucio Fontana by SIAE 2022