Aldo Mondino. Food for thoughts
dal Oct. 31, 2017 al Nov. 7, 2017
EDIT and Artissima share the same innovative spirit and the sense of sharing, interpreted by this prestigious event as exchange in the field of Culture and Art. The partnership between the two organisations was thus a natural and logical step and for the 2017 edition will take the form of an initiative that perfectly represents the union of Art and Food. The EDIT Kitchens - which have yet to be inaugurated - will house the Food for Thought exhibition dedicated to Aldo Mondino to offer visitors a taste of his highly imaginative world. The exhibition will run from 31 October until 7 November and is by appointment only. A tribute to this genius from Turin who, with his works in chocolate and large ephemeral installations produced using different kinds of food, will fill the EDIT Kitchens to create a unique bond between space, art and food for thought.
The exhibition
Aldo Mondino (Torino, 1938 - 2005) was one of the most outstanding exponent of the Italian Post-Modern poetics, an eclectic talent that admits no comparisons, always balanced between ironic conceptualism and redefinition of the tools of painting and sculpture.
Food for Thought, through some of his works, narrates this tireless research and offers viewers a taste of the vivid imagery of Mondino, where nothing is what it seems.
In his long career spanning four decades, Mondino generated extremely versatile production whose formal and conceptual quality seems to be the result of multiple artistic personalities.
Through his work he reappropriated the stylistic and formal discoveries of the avant-gardes, revisiting various currents, from Surrealism to Dada, Conceptual Art to Pop influences, Arte Povera to Minimal Art, all the way to the unprecedented Orientalism that earned him an entire pavilion at the Biennale curated by Achille Bonito Oliva in 1993.
For Mondino anything could be a source of inspiration, from West to East, souks to classical art, religious to culinary traditions. Across his career he experimented with and reinvented techniques, materials and genres, passing from painting on linoleum to creating sculptures in glass or chocolate, a chandelier of Bic pens, a swimming pool of marshmallows.
Mondino reacted to the research on the use of materials connected with Arte Povera, already towards the end of the 1960s, by using everyday things that were utterly novel for the world of art, such as food and – in particular – sweets.
He made surprising sculptures, installations and painting-objects, practicing everything and its opposite with an amazing ability to create works that are simultaneously playful, ironic, introspective, passionate and dramatic, transmitting an unexpected vision to the viewer.
He was inspired by the windows of the historic cafes of Torino, full of nougats, chocolates and colorful candies; these elements are transformed in his works, becoming something they are not, as in the case of the chocolates, specially wrapped for him by Peyrano in Torino, segments of a mosaic made of precious stones. This “double-cross” where the image seen from a distance is paradoxical and deceptive is one of the most characteristic and timely features of his work.
The use and the abuse of any materials also allowed him to approach still very timely social and religious themes with his erudite lightness, often making use of word games to express meaning in a term-image relationship that disrupts the interpretation of his artworks.
His fascination with the factor of chance led him to use other foods like cereals, where the kernels become the refined pattern of the Raccolto in Preghiera (Gathered in Prayer) carpet-like floor installation, or the spices used in the installation Spirale to recreate the odors of Arabian markets, discovered during his long journeys that began in the 1980s.
The Orient, explored with his friend and colleague Alighiero Boetti, offered Mondino the inspiration for his most famous works and shaping, during the last years, a unique and sometimes solitary path of artistic research.
ALDO MONDINO. FOOD FOR THOUGHT
EDIT - Via Cigna 104/A, Torino
October 31st - November 7th 2017
Exhibition visits by appointment (giorgia.zerboni@edit-to.com)
every day 3:00 pm to 7:30 pm
< back
The exhibition
Aldo Mondino (Torino, 1938 - 2005) was one of the most outstanding exponent of the Italian Post-Modern poetics, an eclectic talent that admits no comparisons, always balanced between ironic conceptualism and redefinition of the tools of painting and sculpture.
Food for Thought, through some of his works, narrates this tireless research and offers viewers a taste of the vivid imagery of Mondino, where nothing is what it seems.
In his long career spanning four decades, Mondino generated extremely versatile production whose formal and conceptual quality seems to be the result of multiple artistic personalities.
Through his work he reappropriated the stylistic and formal discoveries of the avant-gardes, revisiting various currents, from Surrealism to Dada, Conceptual Art to Pop influences, Arte Povera to Minimal Art, all the way to the unprecedented Orientalism that earned him an entire pavilion at the Biennale curated by Achille Bonito Oliva in 1993.
For Mondino anything could be a source of inspiration, from West to East, souks to classical art, religious to culinary traditions. Across his career he experimented with and reinvented techniques, materials and genres, passing from painting on linoleum to creating sculptures in glass or chocolate, a chandelier of Bic pens, a swimming pool of marshmallows.
Mondino reacted to the research on the use of materials connected with Arte Povera, already towards the end of the 1960s, by using everyday things that were utterly novel for the world of art, such as food and – in particular – sweets.
He made surprising sculptures, installations and painting-objects, practicing everything and its opposite with an amazing ability to create works that are simultaneously playful, ironic, introspective, passionate and dramatic, transmitting an unexpected vision to the viewer.
He was inspired by the windows of the historic cafes of Torino, full of nougats, chocolates and colorful candies; these elements are transformed in his works, becoming something they are not, as in the case of the chocolates, specially wrapped for him by Peyrano in Torino, segments of a mosaic made of precious stones. This “double-cross” where the image seen from a distance is paradoxical and deceptive is one of the most characteristic and timely features of his work.
The use and the abuse of any materials also allowed him to approach still very timely social and religious themes with his erudite lightness, often making use of word games to express meaning in a term-image relationship that disrupts the interpretation of his artworks.
His fascination with the factor of chance led him to use other foods like cereals, where the kernels become the refined pattern of the Raccolto in Preghiera (Gathered in Prayer) carpet-like floor installation, or the spices used in the installation Spirale to recreate the odors of Arabian markets, discovered during his long journeys that began in the 1980s.
The Orient, explored with his friend and colleague Alighiero Boetti, offered Mondino the inspiration for his most famous works and shaping, during the last years, a unique and sometimes solitary path of artistic research.
ALDO MONDINO. FOOD FOR THOUGHT
EDIT - Via Cigna 104/A, Torino
October 31st - November 7th 2017
Exhibition visits by appointment (giorgia.zerboni@edit-to.com)
every day 3:00 pm to 7:30 pm
