(Fabriano 1929–2008 Trevi)
“Cementoarmato”, 1961, signed, dated and titled G. Uncini 1961 Roma on the reverse, cement, iron, 99 x 198 cm, (AR)

Watch Video: Contemporary Art | November 2015 | Giuseppe Uncini and Fausto Melotti
Watch Video: Contemporary Art | November 2015 | Italian Contemporary Art

Photo certificate:
Archivio Uncini, Galleria Fumagalli, Bergamo, archive no. 61 – 016, signed by the artist, 7 May 2000

Provenance:
Galleria Fumagalli, Bergamo
European Private Collection

Exhibition:
Pistoia, Palazzo Fabroni, Giuseppe Uncini, L’immaginaria misura, 6 May - 9 July 2000, exh. cat., Gli Ori, Pistoia 2000, p. 24 with ill.;
Milan, Palazzo della Permanente, Spazio Atelier, Nella Materia. Dal Futurismo al Kiefer alfabeti nell’arte del Novecento. Da Burri a Kounellis metalli e ossidazioni, 27 May - 29 June 2003, exh. cat., Silvia Editrice, Cologno Monzese 2003, p. 93 with ill.
Rende, Cosenza, Museo d’arte dell’Ottocento e Novecento, Around Rotella. L’Artista e il suo tempo, 13 December 2008 – 18 January 2009 (label on the reverse)

Literature:
Bruno Corà, Giuseppe Uncini. Catalogo ragionato, Silvana editoriale, Cinisello Balsamo, Milan 2007, p. 226, no. 61 – 016 with ill.;
Giuseppe Uncini. Cemento e cemento disegnato. Works from 1958 to 2008, exh. cat., Cardi Gallery, Milan, Anna Maria Maggi (curator), 28 April - 15 September 2015, with ill.

I work with iron and cement. I use these materials with propriety, meaning that I do not conceal them or use them to achieve particular effects; on the contrary, I employ them as they are employed in yards, to construct houses, bridges and roads – to construct everything man needs. At the basis of all this there lies a need to build and organise: the creative principle at the root of all human progress. This is what I wish to express through my objects.
(Giuseppe Uncini)

The period from the late Fifties to the early Sixties is characterized by the need to keep a certain distance from the Informal. Between Rome and Milan, the radical manifestations of artists such as Festa, Lo Savio, Schifano, Fontana, Bonalumi and Castellani express the urgency to find an autonomous dimension, independent of the dominant poetic stream of the time.
It is within the “poetica dell’azzeramento” (“poetic zeroing”) that we find Giuseppe Uncini.
Using unconventional elements (such as earth, sand, cement, ash) from the beginning, he achieved a conception of “matter” that is no longer seen as a vehicle of an existential message, but as a pure material with its own shape and autonomy.
This is how from the “Terre” (“earth”) works of the years 1956-57, although also made with earth, sand or charcoal on masonite supports or canvas, the season of “Cementarmati” (“reinforced concrete”) evolves. His ambition was to create something totally different from the traditional framework.
The simplicity of concrete and at the same time its link to civilisation, with the idea of progress and “constructiveness”, make it the perfect element for the creation of works which do not need to “represent” something, but should be exclusively “intrinsically meaningful”, masterfully blending the shape, design, project and space, namely: painting, sculpture and architecture.

Photo certificate:
Archivio Uncini, Galleria Fumagalli, Bergamo, archive no. 61 – 016, signed by the artist, 7 May 2000

Provenance:
Galleria Fumagalli, Bergamo
European Private Collection

Exhibition:
Pistoia, Palazzo Fabroni, Giuseppe Uncini, L’immaginaria misura, 6 May - 9 July 2000, exh. cat., Gli Ori, Pistoia 2000, p. 24 with ill.;
Milan, Palazzo della Permanente, Spazio Atelier, Nella Materia. Dal Futurismo al Kiefer alfabeti nell’arte del Novecento. Da Burri a Kounellis metalli e ossidazioni, 27 May - 29 June 2003, exh. cat., Silvia Editrice, Cologno Monzese 2003, p. 93 with ill.
Rende, Cosenza, Museo d’arte dell’Ottocento e Novecento, Around Rotella. L’Artista e il suo tempo, 13 December 2008 – 18 January 2009 (label on the reverse)

Literature:
Bruno Corà, Giuseppe Uncini. Catalogo ragionato, Silvana editoriale, Cinisello Balsamo, Milan 2007, p. 226, no. 61 – 016 with ill.;
Giuseppe Uncini. Cemento e cemento disegnato. Works from 1958 to 2008, exh. cat., Cardi Gallery, Milan, Anna Maria Maggi (curator), 28 April - 15 September 2015, with ill.

I work with iron and cement. I use these materials with propriety, meaning that I do not conceal them or use them to achieve particular effects; on the contrary, I employ them as they are employed in yards, to construct houses, bridges and roads – to construct everything man needs. At the basis of all this there lies a need to build and organise: the creative principle at the root of all human progress. This is what I wish to express through my objects.
(Giuseppe Uncini)

The period from the late Fifties to the early Sixties is characterized by the need to keep a certain distance from the Informal. Between Rome and Milan, the radical manifestations of artists such as Festa, Lo Savio, Schifano, Fontana, Bonalumi and Castellani express the urgency to find an autonomous dimension, independent of the dominant poetic stream of the time.
It is within the “poetica dell’azzeramento” (“poetic zeroing”) that we find Giuseppe Uncini.
Using unconventional elements (such as earth, sand, cement, ash) from the beginning, he achieved a conception of “matter” that is no longer seen as a vehicle of an existential message, but as a pure material with its own shape and autonomy.
This is how from the “Terre” (“earth”) works of the years 1956-57, although also made with earth, sand or charcoal on masonite supports or canvas, the season of “Cementarmati” (“reinforced concrete”) evolves. His ambition was to create something totally different from the traditional framework.
The simplicity of concrete and at the same time its link to civilisation, with the idea of progress and “constructiveness”, make it the perfect element for the creation of works which do not need to “represent” something, but should be exclusively “intrinsically meaningful”, masterfully blending the shape, design, project and space, namely: painting, sculpture and architecture.