The exhibition project Lucio Fontana | Enrico Baj | Piero Manzoni, curated by Gaspare Luigi Marcone, gathers three undisputed masters of Post-War Italian art. The presentation is a homage to 1958, an important year in which the differing research of all three artists was displayed and published together.In 1958, two exhibitions were presented in Italy under the title Fontana Baj Manzoni, both accompanied by a critical text by Luciano Anceschi. The first was held at the Galleria Bergamo in the city of Bergamo from the 4th to the 17th of January, the second at the Galleria del Circolo di Cultura in Bologna from the 23rd of March to the 8th of April that year.

Enrico Baj, Lucio Fontana, Piero Manzoni, Roberto Crippa, Eduard Mesens, Milano, c. 1962

Almost certainly the Bologna exhibition was the first time in
which Manzoni presented his new ‘white works’, subsequently entitled Achromes.

Piero Manzoni

Achrome, 1958-1959

Creased canvas and kaolin

18 x 24 cm
7 1/8 x 9 1/2 in

Lucio Fontana

Concetto spaziale. Attesa, 1964-65

Waterpaint on canvas

47 x 38 cm
18 1/2 x 15 in

Along with its importance to Manzoni’s career, 1958 was also a very significant year for Fontana’s research. Following the invention of the “holes” in 1949, the founder of Spatialism began to work on his first Concetto spaziale, Attese featuring “cuts” in the canvas. Like Fontana and Manzoni, Baj also pursued an approach ‘beyond painting’, using fabric, buttons and decorative objects to create his work.

Enrico Baj

Il super general, 1960

Oil, collage, passamanterie, decorations, objects on fabric

130 x 97 cm
51 1/8 x 38 1/4 in

Enrico Baj, il Gesto, 1958. Courtesy Archivio Enrico Baj, Vergiate

The selection of works examines this key moment in art history with pieces from 1958 as well from before and after this date in order to shed light on the paths followed by the artists. Focussing on their use of radical new methods and experimentation with materials that eventually defined their ‘signature’ work, the show includes art movements such as Spatialism and Nuclear Art.

Lucio Fontana | Enrico Baj | Piero Manzoni, exhibition view 2020, Mazzoleni Turin

In the first room we see three iconic works: a white “cut” by Lucio Fontana, Concetto spaziale. Attesa, 1964-65; an Achrome in creased canvas by Manzoni, 1958 and one of the firsts mature example of the “Generali” Baj’s series, Il Super Generale, 1960, in which the artist juxtaposes canvas, cloth, passamanterie, collage and medals. All three artists will dedicate to those type of works many years of their artistic research, decline them in different forms, chromatisms and heterogeneous solutions.

Lucio Fontana | Enrico Baj | Piero Manzoni, exhibition view 2020, Mazzoleni Turin

The main room synthetically displays the experiences before and after the 1958. On the left wall (from the entrance) we can see Concetto spaziale (Barocco), 1956, by Fontana; Peinture nucléaire (Dedicato ad André Kuhn), 1952, by Baj; Untitled, 1957, a vivid Nuclear work by a young Manzoni. The three works share solutions vaguely “monstrous”, typical of their artistic researches of those years. Fontana’s Baroque production, as well as the series of Buchi, relies on the use of various extra pictorial materials and an extensive artistic research towards a new conception of the space and a diffuse use of the light. The practice of using extra pictorial material are also to be later adopted by Bay and Manzoni (for instance fabrics and trimmings used by Bay or Manzoni’s kaolin).

Lucio Fontana

Concetto spaziale (Barocco), 1956

Oil, mixed media and glitter on canvas

70 x 100 cm
27 1/2 x 39 3/8 in

Piero Manzoni

Untitled, 1957

Oil on canvas

50 x 65 cm
19 3/4 x 25 5/8 in

Enrico Baj

Peinture nucléaire (Dedicato ad André Kuhn), 1952

Oil on canvas

80 x 60 cm
31 1/2 x 23 5/8 in

The striking oil by Baj from 1952 is one of the first examples of “nuclear painting”, made right after the birth of the Movimento Arte Nucleare, founded by Enrico Baj and Sergio Dangelo between Milan and Brussels (1951-52). The atomic physics is the foundation of the nuclear research, or as Baj used to say of “the artists belonging to the nuclear period”, it opened up to unprecedented and limitless horizons.

Lucio Fontana | Enrico Baj | Piero Manzoni, exhibition view 2020, Mazzoleni Turin

On the opposite wall some later works showing the artist’s aim to go “beyond painting”. Two works by Baj: a small portrait dated 1955 and Testa montagna from 1958, where the polymetric use of fabrics and pigments emerges as a major example from his homonym series; an Achrome by Manzoni, ca. 1960, in stitched canvas and glass fragments and a rare “ink” work by Fontana, Concetto spaziale [Forma], 1958, realised in aniline, ink, and collage on canvas with holes.

Lucio Fontana | Enrico Baj | Piero Manzoni, exhibition view 2020, Mazzoleni Turin

Piero Manzoni

Achrome, ca. 1960

Canvas sewn in squares and glass pieces

70 x 50 cm
27 1/2 x 19 3/4 in

Enrico Baj

Portrait, 1955

Mixed media on damask canvas

30 x 24 cm
11 3/4 x 9 1/2 in

Press Release Press

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Press release

Lucio Fontana | Enrico Baj | Piero Manzoni

Curated by Gaspare Luigi Marcone

Viewing Room: 10 November -19 December 2020

Mazzoleni is delighted to launch the first edition of its online Viewing Room with the Turin group exhibition curated by Gaspare Luigi Marcone Lucio Fontana | Enrico Baj | Piero Manzoni on 10 November 2020. The viewing room brings together three undisputed masters of Post-War Italian Art, Lucio Fontana (1899-1968), Enrico Baj (1924-2003), and Piero Manzoni (1933-1963).

The presentation will be a homage to 1958, an important year in which the differing research of all three artists was displayed and published together. The exhibition is accompanied by the book by Marcone Fontana Baj Manzoni 1958 – 2018, published by Carlo Cambi editore, 2018.In 1958, two exhibitions were presented in Italy under the title Fontana Baj Manzoni, both accompanied by a critical text by Luciano Anceschi. The first was held at the Galleria Bergamo in the city of Bergamo from the 4th to the 17th of January, the second at the Galleria del Circolo di Cultura in Bologna from the 23rd of March to the 8th of April that year. Almost certainly the Bologna exhibition was the first time in which Manzoni presented his new ‘white works’, subsequently entitled Achromes. Along with its importance to Manzoni’s career, 1958 was also a very significant year for Fontana’s research. Following the invention of the “holes” in 1949, the founder of Spatialism began to work on his first Concetto spaziale Attese featuring “cuts” in the canvas and in 1958 a room was devoted to his work at the Venice Biennale with an overview of his revolutionary approach. The September of that year saw the publication of the third issue of the “nuclear” periodical Il Gesto edited by Baj, Manzoni and Sergio Dangelo. The cover of the magazine, conceived by Fontana, was riddled with a series of “holes” while reproduced inside were the latest works by contemporary artists and poets (Gillo Dorfles, Jean Dubuffet, Marcel Duchamp, Asger Jorn and others).

The works on display will examine this key moment in art history with pieces from 1958 as well from before and after this date in order to shed light on the paths followed by the artists. Focussing on their use of radical new methods and experimentation with materials that eventually defined their ‘signature’ work, the show will traverse art movements such as Spatialism and Nuclear Art. The presentation will reflect the dynamic exchange of avant-garde ideas brought about by rapid technological and cultural transformation in Italy during this period.
One of the most innovative artists of the twentieth century, Lucio Fontana was the founder of Spatialism – he began puncturing holes in the surface of his work to investigate space beyond a flat surface. The presentation will feature a striking Concetto Spaziale. Barocco, 1956, oil, holes, mixed media and glitter on canvas and a terra cotta Concetto Spaziale from 1957 that exemplifies the artist’s passion for interrogating space with a forceful manipulation of surface and matter. This important piece provides the viewer with a fascinating insight into the development of his artistic research.
Also on display will be major works by Enrico Baj, artist, writer and co-founder of the Nuclear Art Movement with Sergio Dangelo. As an author, he was a leading promoter of the avant-garde and responsible for publishing the ‘nuclear’ periodicals and manifestos. His vivid paintings, collages and outspoken writings challenged artistic and political orthodoxies. Like Fontana and Manzoni, Baj also pursued an approach ‘beyond painting’, using fabric, buttons and decorative objects to create his work. He will be represented by several pieces, including Peinture nucléaire, 1952, and Testa Montagna, 1958, major examples of his pioneering ideas and artistic practice.
The presentation will include one of Piero Manzoni’s formative works – close to the aesthetics of the Nuclear Art Movement – Untitled, 1956, oil and tar on canvas and an Achrome in stitched canvas and mixed media from 1960. Manzoni’s personal curiosity, collaboration and frequent trips around Europe became critical in defining this new geography of art. After experimenting with spreading gesso on canvas (1957-1958), Manzoni decided to work with kaolin, a material used in the production of ceramics, into which he would dip the canvas, which when mounted onto a frame and dried would assumed the puckered quality used to create his Achromes. Following these experiments, Manzoni continued to produce Achromes with very different materials – including sewn cloth, polystyrene and phosphorescent paint – in parallel with other radical works (Linee, 1959, Fiato d’artista, 1960, Basi magiche, 1961, Merda d’artista, 1961), redefining the concept of art.

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