Pino Pascali: Arte Povera

Pino Pascali - Bridge - 1968 - Steel wool and wire - 39 3/8" x 26' 3" x 35 7/16" (800 x 100 x 90 cm) - MoMA, New York (click photo for larger image)Arte Povera (Italian for "Impoverished Art" or "Poor Art”) was is label for a small group of artists in Italy who were experimenting with nontraditional and politically charged art, in the 1960s and 1970s.

These artists created and explored modes of expression such as ephemeral art, performance art, installation art and assemblage, using what have been referred to as “poor” non-art materials. These techniques have since become extremely common tools in contemporary art; in fact this is one of the reasons that such a small and short-lived movement continues to have such relevance today.

One of the clearest influences on the group was the work of Dada artist Marcel Duchamp (discussed elsewhere on What About Art?). His "Readymade" sculptures, especially his infamous "Fountain" urinal, have the same kind of subversive power that Arte Povera artists aimed to achieve.

Pino Pascali (1935-1968) was part of the Arte Povera movement. He used everyday, natural, and unorthodox materials in his work, including cans, steel wool, hay, and dirt. His "fake sculptures" appear to be solid structures but are actually shaped canvases whose forms suggest animals, plants, and landscapes. 

The work featured here, Bridge, has the appearance of a primitive rope bridge. But it is constructed of steel wool, a modern industrial product. This is the most ambitious of the works in Pascali's last series, entitled Reconstructions of Nature. "I do not believe you make shows in galleries," Pascali said, "you make the gallery, you create the space."

Pascali is also known for his Weapons series, re-creations of guns and cannons assembled from found materials and painted army green. His inspired works were an important contribution to postwar art within his short lifetime.