The 5th Edition of Ravenna Mosaic - biennial exhibition of contemporary mosaics - from 6 October until 7 January this year, a wide-ranging exhibition on the relationship between sculpture and mosaicwith the clear intention of documenting the evolution of this artistic language in all the declinations of the concept of mosaic tilefrom the 1930s, a time when Gino Severini renewed the practice of mosaic in a decorative architectural function.
The experiences that followed are fuelled by historical reflection, the constant search for an ancient reference model, a starting point that justifies experimentation, making it slide towards the three-dimensional plane.
Ravenna Mosaic - The 5th edition
Early examples of primitive Mesoamerican mosaicevidence of the constant interest in ancient Latin America that existed in Italy as early as the 1920s, which saw prominent personalities engaged in a census of the relevant artefacts in our country, culminating in the exhibition of ancient Latin America organised in Rome in 1933.
The path combining sculpture and mosaicafter the most famous examples of Lucio Fontana e Mirko BasaldellaIt was interrupted for several years, only to reappear in the late 1970s and 1980s, albeit with sporadic exceptions during the 1950s and 1960s. If Fontana and Basaldella are the precursors of the happy union between sculpture and mosaic, Zavagno e Licata are instead to be considered as the major representatives of the two directions along which the research of the following decades unfolds, especially with regard to the use of non-traditional materials (the first) and the use of stone or glass mosaic tiles (the second).
The exhibition documents the different expressive temperatures of sculpture between the 20th and 21st centuries, iconic and aniconic, poetic and narrative, symbolic and conceptual, always in its conjugation with the art of mosaics, which finally took shape as a specific genre at the end of the 1970s, by Antonio Trotta, Athos Ongaro and the Transavantgarde of Chia and Paladino. These artists will make the mosaic sculpture a research that is anything but episodic, especially thanks to the technical and technological innovations provided by new materials of synthetic origin, which have made it possible to overcome the technical limitations of cement mortars, making it easier to execute mosaics in three dimensions.
The suggestions of contemporary mosaics
Contemporary mosaic art has not failed to inspire cultured designers such as Mendini e Sottsassalso known for their experimental forays into sculpture. From the second half of the 1980s to the present day, research and artistic production in this field have multiplied with diverse and singular results, while tracing a multifaceted pattern that portrays artistic research in the latter part of the 20th century. Artists and mosaicists occasionally executed three-dimensional works, alternated them with their two-dimensional production, or turned towards sculpture more frequently, until it became increasingly exclusive.
A clear example is the tomb of Rudolf Nureyev in Paris, on show in Ravenna thanks to amultimedia virtual installationto consolidate the perception that mosaic sculpture has now embarked on a path of absolute autonomy.
For more information on the event: studioesseci.net
