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Lucio Fontana's Concetto spaziale, executed in 1962-63, is a particularly elegant sculptural example of the artist's investigation of space. Fontana's first ventures into his artistic practice began in sculpture. He worked as a sculptor in his father's studio in Argentina for several years before opening his own. His background in sculpture renders it unsurprising how the present work acutely captures Fontana's liberation of traditional techniques through his carefully orchestrated punctures and slits, resulting in a virtuosic interrogation of space and dimension. Concetto spaziale perches gently on the surface in its ovoid form, reminiscent of the lustrous curvatures of a cowrie shell, the surface gleaming in an umber glaze, a striking opening protruding upwards towards the viewer's line of vision.

In Conversation: Daniella Luxembourg and Allan Schwartzman

Fontana masterfully introduces a singular emblematic Buchi (hole) that he had already applied to the canvas, carving into the ceramic to leave behind a gaping opening that ruptures the boundary between the interior and exterior. The work's production coincides with Fontana's iconic La fine di Dio series and, shortly following Yuri Gagarin's first manned space flight in 1961, suggests the multifaceted influences behind Fontana's richly layered conceptual framework, particularly his interest in space and cosmic metaphors. Concetto spaziale and its ovoid structure evokes the mythic Orphic egg that gave life to the deity of creation, undoubtedly resonating with the artist's commitment to pry open a new understanding of space that lies behind the void. Richly imbued in metaphorical rigor and captivating in its nearly solemn material simplicity, the present work diligently bears witness to Fontana's singular and revolutionary artistic endeavor.

Artist

Lucio Fontana