Fausto Melotti Curated by Douglas Fogle

Hauser & Wirth presents “Fausto Melotti”, the gallery’s debut exhibition of works by the late Italian sculptor, installation artist, and poet, admired for his unique contribution to the development of mid-century European Modernism. In a compact survey spanning six decades and highlighting the remarkable breadth of Melotti’s career, the exhibition traces an artistic journey between the realms of abstraction and figuration. Coming of age in prewar Milan and living through the horrors of the Second World War, Melotti metabolized wartime devastation in his work by returning to Renaissance principles of harmony, order, geometry, and musical structure, which he integrated into a highly personal yet universally accessible artistic language that expresses the full range of emotional experiences in modern human existence.

On view through 18 June, ‘Fausto Melotti’ features drawings, ceramics, and sculptures from the early 1930s through the mid-1980s, including the artist’s plaster bas-reliefs, fantastical terracotta ‘Teatrini’ (Little Theaters), and signature lithe brass sculptures. The exhibition is curated by Douglas Fogle, former Chief Curator at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, and is accompanied by a new publication featuring historical material from the archive of Fondazione Fausto Melotti.