Gigi Guadagnucci’s Marble Sculptures Exhibition in Malcesine
Locations of the Exhibition and Organization
Palazzo dei Capitani, Piazza Turazza, and Porto Vecchio of Malcesine (Verona): these are the three selected venues that will serve as the backdrop for an important exhibition dedicated to the works of sculptor GIGI GUADAGNUCCI, scheduled from July 14 to September 30, 2001.
The exhibition, which features 39 marble sculptures, was promoted by the Assessorato alla cultura of the Comune di Malcesine and organized by Assessore Ferdinando Sbizzera, who oversaw the planning and conceived its placement throughout the city.
Therefore, it is not a display confined to a single location but intentionally distributed across three different evocative settings, to better highlight sculptures of varying sizes (from the 10-centimeter pieces of Cinque Fiori to the over 2-meter-high Cattedrale and Vegetazione).
Features and Theme of the Exhibition
A show that involves the city itself, showcasing the work of a great Italian master, internationally renowned, who revitalizes the natural environment in a new and evocative way.
It could not be otherwise, given that many of the works reflect the artist’s particular passion for natural elements, vegetation, animals, and flowers.
Scultures emerge from the marble, following Michelangelesque principles. Guadagnucci fully immerses himself in the marble, reading it in its entirety, grasping its hidden inner soul, and then smoothing it to release its expressive power in forms that are delicate, geometrically studied, and balanced.
In these works, not only the sculptural art and the artist’s creativity are essential, but also the play of light and shadow created by the white marble. This artist has the ability to make the material imperceptibly light and transparent.
Guadagnucci’s Style and Technique
Guadagnucci plays with light and shadows, but above all, he understands the material, marble, making it alive and fully integrated into the natural environment, thanks to his chosen subjects: marble, a seemingly cold material, becomes living nature.
The work and life experience of Guadagnucci hardly need many comments. Born in 1915 in Castagnetola, near Massa Carrara, he was immersed in the marble world from an early age, following a family tradition.
Among his early mentors are Ciberti and Soldani, in whose Tuscan workshops Guadagnucci trained. However, it was with his move to France in 1936, driven by political reasons, that the artist’s creative talents flourished, and he embarked on his sculptural pursuit, adopting the teachings of Rodin, Maillol, and reaching the great lessons of Donatello.
In France, between Paris and Grenoble, he interacted with intellectuals and ateliers, met Italian artists present there, such as Gino Severini and Carlo Sergio Signori, as well as Zoran Music, and also engaged with the major sculptors of Montparnasse: Alberto Giacometti, Ossip Zadkine, César, and Stahly. He maintained friendly contacts with neorealists Yves Klein and Tinguely.
Nevertheless, he remained faithful to marble, the red thread connecting him to his homeland, where he returned only a few years ago.
