GIUSEPPE UNCINI

Biography

Giuseppe Uncini was born in Fabriano in 1929 and died in Trevi in 2008. In 1953 he moved to Rome where he got to know Edgardo Mannucci and made the acquaintance of Alberto Burri, Afro, Giuseppe Capogrossi, Ettore Colla, Emilio Villa. His first series of work date back to 1956 when he created the Terre, followed by the Cementarmati (1957-61), bodies of work made of iron, concrete and wire mesh, which reveal their supporting structure and constructive principle. During these years Giuseppe Uncini participated in various exhibitions with the “Giovane Scuola Romana” along with Tano Festa, Franco Angeli, Mario Schifano and Francesco Lo Savio. In 1962, together with Gastone Biggi, Nicola Carrino, Nato Frascà, Achille Pace and Pasquale Santoro, he founded Gruppo Uno which championed, through the use of new materials and the overcoming of the Informel, an art in favour of the perception and appreciation of the artist’s social role. Uncini’s research continued in the first half of the 1960s with Ferrocementi, followed by Strutturespazio, presented at the 33rd Venice Biennale in 1966. In the 1970s, the massive architectural presence of the series Mattoni confronted their own shadows that took on a solid form. His reflections on shadows and the possibility of making them physically perceptible continued in the subsequent bodies of work Ombre, Dimore and Muri d’ombra. Between the 1990s and the early 2000s, Uncini was attracted by the desire to render the empty spaces into sculptures, as demonstrated by Spazi di Ferro, followed by Spazicemento.

In the 2000s his sculptures took on monumental dimensions and architectural features with the series Architetture, up until the last years of his life when he worked on the series Artifici. With the latter he seemed to return to two-dimensionality and the use of earth as a creative medium once again. In the same period (early 2000s), he developed as a goldsmith, experimenting with the ancient technique of lost-wax casting. The last monumental work he created was Epistylium (2007-2009), a reinforced concrete sculpture over six meters high, created for the outdoor exhibition space of the Mart in Rovereto. During his long career, Giuseppe Uncini has been invited to exhibit his work at numerous venues around the world. Among his solo shows in institutions: MACTE, Termoli and GNAM, Rome (2019), Chiesa di San Matteo, Lucca (2016), Fondazione Marconi, Milan (2015), Musma, Matera (2013), Istituto statale d’arte, Rome (2010), Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz and Accademia di San Luca, Rome (2009), ZKM – Museum fur Neue Kunst, Karlsruhe and MART, Rovereto (2008), Städtische Kunsthalle, Mannheim (2001), Palazzo Fabroni, Pistoia (2000), Centro Arti Visive – Ex Pescheria, Pesaro (1999), Galleria Civica d’Arte Contemporanea, Marsala (1990), Istituto d’Arte, Ferrara (1985), Pinacoteca e Musei Comunali, Macerata (1993). Noteworthy are also his participations in the Rome Quadriennale (1999, 1992, 1973, 1965, 1955), the Venice Biennale (1995, 1984, 1978, 1976, 1966), and the Tokyo Biennale (1963).

His collaboration with Galleria Fumagalli began in 1995 with the first solo exhibition accompanied by a text by Giovanni Maria Accame, who also edited the monograph published by DeAgostini in 1996 (in collaboration with Galleria Fumagalli). In the same year, the gallery served as an editor for the catalog with text by Marco Meneguzzo, “Giuseppe Uncini. Oeuvres 1959/1996”, which accompanied the exhibition at Studio Simonis and Galerie Vivas in Paris. In 1997 the gallery dedicated a second solo show to Uncini and in 2000 edited a volume with texts by Annamaria Maggi and Marco Meneguzzo for the exhibition at the Centro Arti Visive – ex Peschiera in Pesaro. A monograph that accompanied the exhibition at Palazzo Fabroni in Pistoia, curated by Bruno Corà was issued in the same year. In 2001, for the exhibition at the Städtische Kunsthalle in Mannheim, in collaboration with galleries Christian Stein and Giò Marconi in Milan, Galleria Fumagalli edited a volume with texts by Manfred Fath, Volker Feirabend and Marco Meneguzzo. In 2002, for his third solo show, Uncini presented a jewelry exhibition with a text by Ada Masoero (catalog “A cera persa”). The fourth solo show took place in 2007 and in 2008 the catalog raisonné edited by Bruno Corà and Annamaria Maggi was published by Silvana Editoriale. Lastly, in 2010 the gallery dedicated a fifth solo to Uncini, accompanied by the catalog “Il cemento disegnato. Works on paper 1957/2006” with texts by Franco Fanelli and Giacinto di Pietrantonio. In 2021 Uncini’s oeuvre is part of the exhibition program MY30YEARS – Coherency in Diversity, curated by Lóránd Hegyi, which celebrates Annamaria Maggi’s 30-year-long career at the head of the gallery. The first exhibition, Architettura – Spazialità – Artefatto, puts his works in context with those by Anne & Patrick Poirier and Marco Tirelli.

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Biography