Introducing Gilardi: Tappeto-Natura
Magazzino Italian Art's 2022-2023 exhibition, curated by Elena Re, is dedicated to Italian artist Piero Gilardi and the series at the core of his oeuvre: Tappeto-Natura.
Gilardi: Tappeto-Natura Installation 7Magazzino Italian Art
Gilardi: Tappeto- Natura
Through an ample selection of relevant works, the exhibition seeks to recount and illuminate the experience of Piero Gilardi, who at the height of the 1960s, opened a dialogue between Italy and the United States, remaining committed to the international artistic community.
Lobby SculpturesMagazzino Italian Art
Small Sculptures for Personalized Tappeto-Natura
This display features works realized through the 2000s, Piero Gilardi elaborates "Tappeto-Natura" in a new and singular direction. He arrives at creating a series of small sculptures inspired by the ancient idea of hortus conclusus (“enclosed garden”).
Gilardi: Tappeto-Natura, LobbyMagazzino Italian Art
Sassi
In an effort to make his polyeurathane foam art accessible, Gilardi produced the multiple Sassi with the Gufram company in 1968. It is still in production today, and this edition invites the viewer to sit, relax, and truly express oneself in our lobby entrance.
Stones as Seats, Art as Life
Sedilsasso is a stone that becomes a seat, a weight that transforms itself in lightness. These works recount an authentic and vital nature. This edition is composed of three elements: a larger rock that can be a seat and another two that are smaller.
Sassi (Rocks)
Sassi, utilizing yet again the rock motif, is an iconic work that evokes walks along the Sangone, a river in Turin, where the real pebbles have inspired an ideal riverbed.
Gilardi: Tappeto-Natura Installation_5Magazzino Italian Art
Entering the Gallery
This group of works, consisting of large-scale and smaller works, rectangular and square forms, as well as two rounds, presents some of Piero Gilardi’smost recently realizedTappeti-Natura, created between 2018 and 2020.
This selection of Tappeti-Natura represents the desire of the artist to deliver a dreamed-of nature to our gaze. There are tropical fruits and flowers on view, like papaya, cocoa plant, and viridea, and even a Mexican armadillo.
Faggio nella neve (Beech in the snow) (2020) by Piero GilardiMagazzino Italian Art
Faggio nella neve (Beech in the snow)
We can see a winter scene with the snow and a beech tree – present in Italian forests, particularly between Piemonte and Liguria.
Faggio nella neve (Beech in the snow)
We can see a winter scene with the snow and a beech tree – present in Italian forests, particularly between Piemonte and Liguria.
Nido di primavera (Spring nest) (2020) by Piero GilariMagazzino Italian Art
Nido di primavera (Spring nest)
Gilardi honed in on specific ecosystems, that of his hometown or a tropical island, as well as the seasons, whether that be winter, fall, or the spring, as represented here. This example is of a small spring nest with nestled eggs, which seem to open themselves up to the viewer.
D’autunno (In autumn)
We discover an autumnal composition with corn and some purple turnips – vegetables often used as side dishes in culinary specialties from the Piemonte region.
Cocomeri (Watermelon)
This Tappeto-Natura, created between 2018-2020, are his most recent return to the form. This work features continuity in both the circular cut of the carpet and the roundness of the melons, and is one of the three round carpets in the exhibition.
In these two examples, we can note a coralline beach, a glimpse of a tropical paradise detached from his upbringing in Turin, rich with its flora and fauna. In vivid color, there is also a depiction of an exotic beach with two Mauritia shells.
Gilardi: Tappeto-Natura Installation_3Magazzino Italian Art
Off the Wall
Gilardi wanted his Tappeti-Natura to invade the space, and Magazzino honors his vision by exhibiting the carpets both on the wall and laid flat on the ground. Learn more about Gilardi's larger-than-life dreams and execution in our accompanying story.
