Giovanni Anselmo: Beyond the Horizon
02.09.2024 - 05.19.2024
Giovanni Anselmo (b. 1934, Borgofranco d’Ivrea; d. 2023, Turin) began his career as an artist in Italy in the 1960s. The revelatory experience he lived on the summit of Stromboli volcano one morning in 1965 radically influenced his work. When the sun’s early rays just peeking over the horizon cast their shadows on the immensity of the sky, the artist became aware that he was an integral part of an infinite, ever changing universe. Since then, Anselmo focused his interest on the order and cyclical course of natural phenomena, so that the energy, space, time, orientation, magnetic fields, or gravitational forces became recurring themes in his production. Using existing materials, Anselmo created pieces that actively and perceptibly present both the latent energy surrounding us here and now and the incommensurate nature of the dynamics governing the cosmos. His works are located at a fascinating frontier between the visible and the invisible.
This exhibition is a comprehensive analysis of the practice of an artist who is considered a key referent in Arte Povera yet managed to develop his career avoiding any label or classification. Envisioned as a journey, a continuous flow, this show connects the most emblematic works in Anselmo’s career with others created specifically for this occasion. Anselmo was deeply involved in the organization of this exhibition until just a few days before he passed away last December. Therefore, now more than ever, the goal of Giovanni Anselmo. Beyond the Horizon is to faithfully convey the depth of his vitality, the greatness of his legacy, and the meaning of his contribution.
Galleries: 205, 206, 207, 209
Curator: Gloria Moure
Exhibition organized by the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
Giovanni Anselmo
Untitled (The Wet Cotton Is Thrown onto the Glass and It Stays There)
[(Senza titolo (Il cotone bagnato viene buttato sul vetro e ci resta)], 1968
Glass, cotton, zinc bucket, sack, and water
210 x 210 x 50 cm
The Sonnabend Collection and Antonio Homem, loan to
Fundacão de Serralves – Museu de Arte Contemporânea, Porto.
© Giovanni Anselmo
Photo © Filipe Braga
Virtual Tour
The Exhibition
Direction (Direzione), 1967–68
Fabric, glass, and metal
24.3 x 420 x 335 cm
Tate, London. Purchased with funds provided by
an anonymous donor 2009
© Giovanni Anselmo
Photo: © Tate Images
Torsion (Torsione), 1968
Iron and fabric
160 x 160 cm
GAM – Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea,
Fondazione Guido ed Ettore De Fornaris, Turin
© Giovanni Anselmo
Photo: © Studio Fotografico Gonella
Untitled (The Wet Cotton Is Thrown onto the Glass and It
Stays There) [Senza titolo (Il cotone bagnato viene buttato
sul vetro e ci resta)], 1968
Glass, cotton, sack, zinc bucket, water, and sawdust
210 x 210 x 50 cm
The Sonnabend Homem Collection. On loan to Fundação de
Serralves – Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, Porto
© Giovanni Anselmo
Photo: Filipe Braga
Interference in Universal Gravitation
(Interferenza nella gravitazione universale), 1969–2016
Print on emulsified canvas
20 elements, 30 x 30 cm each
Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea,
Rivoli-Torino, on loan from Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna
e Contemporanea CRT
© Giovanni Anselmo
Invisible (Invisibile), 1971
Projector and slide with the word ‘visibile’
Dimensions variable
Collection of the artist, Turin
© Giovanni Anselmo
Photo: © Paolo Mussat Sartor
Panorama with a Hand Pointing to It
(Il panorama con mano che lo indica), 1982–84
Graphite on cloth paper and stone
Dimensions variable
Colección CGAC, Santiago de Compostela
© Giovanni Anselmo
Photo : © Manu Suárez
Toward the Ultramarine (Verso oltremare), 1984
Stone, steel wire, slipknot, and acrylic paint on wall
300 x 140 x 3 cm
Collection of the artist, Turin
© Giovanni Anselmo
Photo: © Paolo Mussat Sartor
Untitled, 1984
Stones, canvas, and steel wire
7 canvases, 230 x 150 cm each;
14 stones, 30 x 30 x 60 cm each
Collection of the artist, Turin
© Giovanni Anselmo
Photo: © Paolo y Simone
Mussat Sartor
Did you
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Didaktika
As part of the Didaktika project, the Museum designs on site and online educational spaces sponsored by Fundación EDP, as well as special activities, that complement each exhibition, offering tools and resources to aid appreciation of the works on display...
Giovanni Anselmo
On August 16, 1965, Giovanni Anselmo was climbing up the Stromboli volcano, when at sunrise, he realized he was “shadowless” as his shadow was projected into the air...
