In 1959, Melotti began working in flexible, light materials such as brass, steel and copper, to create three-dimensional, ethereal, thread-like constructions. Melotti’s lyricism can be seen in the sculpture La pioggia (The Rain), which is characterized by a contrapuntal movement that recalls falling drops of water and the resulting splashes that hover in the air. The artist treats sculpture like a visual score, the equivalent of a musical phrase constructed according to contrapuntal rules. His sculptures in metal, because of the specificity of the material, lend themselves best to this treatment, as seen in Confronto (Confrontation). Almost without body, the sculpture is made up of lines, thread-like and vibratile elements placed in dynamic relationship to each other. The ‘confrontation’ takes place between the different directions assumed visually by the three steel lines that make up the work.
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