The first solo exhibition by

Franco Mazzucchelli with Chert Lüdde.

From the early sixties, Mazzucchelli has been experimenting with synthetic materials that led to his large-scale inflatable objects, which he placed and subsequently abandoned in public outdoor spaces. The works temporally became part of the urban fabric, contact with passers-by activating their unexpected social roles: the public did not passively admire the artworks but was rather keen to touch them, move them around, play with them and take them away. The works were intended to disrupt the perception of a familiar place, be it a natural landscape or an urban site, and to open a getaway from daily routines by proposing an unfamiliar view of one’s surroundings and situations. Under the acronym “A. to A.” (Art to Abandon) Mazzucchelli created hundreds of interventions where he abandoned his art and of which the only remains are photographs and videos that document interactions between the artworks and their ambiances.

The exhibition Pneuma includes a 1969 original work from the “A. to A.” series, originally activated at the Biblioteca Villa Pizzone in Milan, together with several inflatable canvas works from his later series “Bieca Decorazione”  (pure banal decoration), an ironic title referring to the supposedly mere decorative function of art. The main installation in the exhibition, “Bieca Decorazione” (2017), is comprised of 15 different canvases made of black PVC, recalling a larger room installation originally conceived for Spazio Anna di Gennaro in Milan in 1972. The canvases, installed side by side, completely cover one of the main gallery’s walls, creating a soft architecture with different geometric patterns. Other pieces of the “Bieca Decorazione”  series, from the early 2000 until now, will be displayed around the gallery space.

Opening reception 10 February 2018 (6:00-9:00 pm) until 14 April 2018.