Introduction |
Visiting Info |
Anselmo | Boetti |
Calzolari |
Fabro |
Gilardi |
Kounellis
Merz, Mario |
Merz, Marisa |
Paolini |
Pascali |
Penone |
Pistoletto |
Prini |
Zorio
Giovanni Anselmo
|
Untitled 1968 granite, lettuce,
copper wire. Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris - Musée
National d'Art Moderne
|
Giovanni Anselmo (b. 1934, Borgofranco d'Ivrea),
divides his time between Turin and the volcanic island
of Stromboli. It was while walking on Mount Stromboli
at dawn in 1965 that he was suddenly struck by the realisation
that he was merely a tiny detail in the vast continuum
of universal energy.
This epiphany was to inspire his many works investigating
the finite and the infinite, the microcosm and the macrocosm,
and the elemental laws and forces of nature - gravity,
tension, magnetism and energy. A wide range of organic
and inorganic materials including vegetables, water,
electricity, granite, iron and plastic are brought together
in combinations that strikingly demonstrate these forces.
|
In Torsion, 1968, for example, a leather loop set
in a concrete block is tightly twisted and fixed in place
with a wooden bar. This work literally traps energy. Similarly,
in Untitled, 1967, a large sheet of Perspex is held
taut in a curved shape by an iron fastening. Another presentation
of tension and gravity is provided by Untitled, 1968
- also known as Eating Structure. In this work, a head
of lettuce is squashed between a large standing block of granite
and a smaller one, secured by a copper wire. If the lettuce
is allowed to dry out, the wire will lose tension and the
small stone will fall. The sculpture must therefore be constantly
'fed' with new lettuces. Anselmo also works with artist's
books, drawings, photography and slide projections.
Back I Next
|
