Demonstrating the gallery’s specialism in post-War Italian art, Robilant+Voena’s selection of works for TEFAF New York celebrates the unique vision of Italian artists during the second half of the twentieth century. For many of these artists, namely Lucio Fontana, Agostino Bonalumi and Mario Schifano, the United States – and specifically New York City – played a crucial role in the trajectory of their artistic careers, both in terms of providing novel artistic interactions and sources of inspiration, and bringing their art to new American audiences.
A selection of ground-breaking works by Lucio Fontana forms the heart of the display, with his pioneering tagli shown alongside examples of his ceramics. The dynamic experimentation of Italian artists who sought to explode the spatial limits of the artwork-object will be further demonstrated by a bronze by Agostino Bonalumi and a rare hexagonal piece by Enrico Castellani, alongside an arazzo by Alighiero Boetti. Throughout the display, works by Italian artists are juxtaposed with their international contemporaries, showing the dynamic exchange of ideas across artistic spheres.
The bold colours of Boetti’s embroidered squares are echoed in works by Fernand Léger and Sam Francis; the distinctive visual language of Schifano, incorporating and reimagining elements of the Pop Art aesthetic, is set against the iconic imagery of Andy Warhol; the swirling abstract language of Giacomo Balla contrasts with the neatly-edged forms of Wassily Kandinskij. A bronze Piccolo Cavallo by Marino Marini stands alongside animal sculptures by contemporary artist Harumi Klossowska de Rola, revealing two contrasting and compelling interpretations of animal forms.
Two radiant sculptures of the human figure by Barry X Ball demonstrate the artist's revolutionary use of contemporary technologies in creating artworks that build upon the great history of sculpture. Bringing the presentation to its contemporary climax is a mesmerising butterfly work by Damien Hirst, mimicking a stained-glass gothic arched window.
