Since 2004, the year of the last major Pino Pascali (1935–1968) exhibition at Castel Sant’Elmo in Naples (curated by Angela Tecce), it has been nearly impossible to see a significant collection of works by the Italian artist, a major figure in 20th-century art. Now, the Fondazione Prada in Milan and its curator, Mark Godfrey, have brought together nearly fifty of his works across four platforms. It should be noted that the fragility and geographical dispersion of these artworks, make them difficult to display.
The first platform partly recreates the presentation of the four solo exhibitions held between 1965 and 1968, which marked the brief life of the artist (who died at 33 following a motorcycle accident in Rome in September 1968). The exhibition’s approach is original, as it showcases different moments in Pascali’s career, highlighting the contrasting elements that define his unique approach to sculpture: from his early, Pop-inspired works such as Omaggio a Billie Holiday (Labbra rosse), Colosseo (1964), to his final creations in steel wool imbued with a dreamlike elsewhere (Il Ponte, La Trappola, 1968), as well as his mock weapons (Mitragliatrice, Missile “Colomba della Pace,” 1965), and white sculptures of phantom animals (La decapitazione delle giraffe, Il dinosauro riposa, 1965). These pieces defy traditional expectations of sculpture and introduce the concept of « finta scultura » (« false sculpture »), a central theme in Pascali’s work.
This progression from one series to another reveals Pascali’s relentless experimentation with materials, a key aspect of his practice. The exhibition delves into this theme on a second platform, focusing on the use of new materials in sculpture (Eternit, plastic, faux fur…), which Pascali embraced with delight. As he remarked in a text in the Bari dialect, recited to art critic Marisa Volpi Orlandini for Marcatré magazine in 1968, « I am like a snake; each year I shed my skin. I don’t throw it away, but with it, I create everything »—a metaphor for the ongoing metamorphoses in his work.
Another part of the exhibition confronts some of the artist’s pieces, such as the aquatic installation 32 mq di mare circa (approx. 32 m2 of sea) (1967), which is unfortunately an exhibition copy whereas the original work, restored a few years ago, is conserved at the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna in Rome, or the Vedova Blu (giant spider in electric blue synthetic fur) with iconic photographs of the artist having fun with his works by interacting with them, This « esprit du « guitto » that lively, theatrical spirit spoken of by artist friend Piero Gilardi (1942- 2023) about him is generally lacking in the exhibition, which tends to devitalize the artist’s exceptional creative force in a set design with an international aesthetic entrusted to studio 2×4, which would have deserved to present the works in a more lively and sensitive way, in direct confrontation, for example, with the films in which we see Pino Pascali replaying certain sculptures outdoors, as in Luca Patella’s SKMP2 (1968); all of which would have shown how inseparable art and life were for Pino Pascali.
Pino Pascali, Fondazione Prada, Milan, from March 28th to September 23rd, 2024