In occasion of the exhibition RITORNO AL BAROCCO. FONTANA, LEONCILLO, MELOTTI, curated by Andrea Bacchi, ML Fine Art is pleased to present two extraordinary works: Concetto Spaziale by Lucio Fontana in conversation with San Sebastiano by Leoncillo.
Looking at these two works it is immediately visible that, even if different for the techniques, they share several features: the granular texture, the tarnished surface, the glittery details and dynamic appearance.
Made in 1957, Concetto Spaziale is part of the cycle of works known as “Barocchi” (Baroques), among the rarest and most important of the artist superlative oeuvre. Never as in these series of works Fontana had given life to his fantasy: the movement is free, close to Informal, but endowed with an "intimate luminous vitalism", with results that sometimes were conspicuously symbolic forms, others with more dynamic and informal outcomes, as in the present work. Here the meeting of light with the informal influence materialises through the coexistence of a thick and free brushstroke with the application of glittering lustrini that float on the surface, creating agglomerations and imaginary lines. None of these elements is separate from another, each being indispensable in the creation of the Baroque stage that opens up to the spectator.
On the other side, Leoncillo, deeply fascinated by the decorative art of the past, and in particular of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, introduced since his very early pieces lush and curly shapes, as well as a wide range of colours and visual effect typical of Baroque. This vibrant imprint of the surfaces intensified the artworks’ exuberance. All these features are present in his San Sebastiano, 1961. For its dramatic power, this martyr figure was explored by the artist throughout his entire career. Also when his production became informal and lost any figurative recall, Leoncillo saw in the tormented matter of his sculptures the pain and suffering of the saint’s tortured body
