Agostino Bonalumi, was born in in Vimercate, Milan. A painter, sculptor, and draughtsman whose exemplary skill in technical and mechanical drawing enabled him to exhibit his first works at the Premio Nazionale Cittá di Vimercate at the age of thirteen. His first solo show took place just eight years later at the Galleria Totti, Milan.
Read MoreDuring a career spanning five decades, Bonalumi became known as a leading figure in post war Italian art. His practice involved placing different shaped objects beneath taut canvases to give his paintings three-dimensionality. The appearance of concealing mysterious items behind the pictures’ surfaces, added an illusory element that entered into the viewers’ space. Bonalumi’s technique has been dubbed ‘extroflection’, and it elaborates on the sliced canvas works of Lucio Fontana.
Bonalumi presented work at both the 33rd Venice Biennale in 1966 and the 35th Venice Biennale in 1970. Recent solo exhibitions of the artist’s work have included Sculpture at Mazzoleni Art, London (2015); Sete at Galleria Blu, Milan (2014); All the Shapes of Space, 1958-2976 at Robilant + Veona, London (2013); and The Glass of Shadow: Works from the Sixties to Present at Partners and Mucciaccia Gallery, Singapore (2012).
Exhibition view: Agostino Bonalumi, Robilant+Voena, New York (15 September–16 December 2022). Courtesy Robilant+Voena.
