Milan's La Triennale is currently paying homage to Italian artist, architect, critic, curator and cultural agitator Corrado Levi with the exhibition "Tra gli spazi" (Between Spaces; through 23rd February 2020).
Curated by Joseph Grima e Damiano Gullì the exhibition features a selection of Levi's works including site-specific installations, environmental interventions, sculptures and objects of design dating between 1982 and 2020, displayed in various spaces across the Palazzo della Triennale.
The idea of scattering the works around the building rather than keeping them confined in just one well-defined space, comes directly from Levi's practice.
Levi has always worked in an "in-between space", at the crossroards between different disciplines and techniques and has always displayed a passion for combining one discipline with another.
Born in Turin, but living and working in Milan, Levi studied under Carlo Mollino and Franco Albini, and worked as an architect in Turin, Milan and Marrakesh.
In his practice he often put emphasis on the body and on the theme of absence: at the Triennale, visitors will be able to see some works that explore these themes, including "Desiderando gli amici" (Wishing for friends; 1992), an installation consisting a line of belts hanging on an iron wire, and his "Motosauro" (Motosaurus; 1991), a curious animal made with a motorcycle and a series of helmets suspended from the ceiling in a snake-like configuration.
Levi always intended architecture as a body on which we can intervene, as proved by "Baci Urbani" (Urban Kisses, 1996), a giant piercing ring originally designed for a building in Turin in collaboration with the artist and architect collective Cliostraat.
In his works Levi often showed his social and political commitment: the "Panchina rosa triangolare" (Triangular Pink Bench) in the Triennale garden is a monument dedicated to the homosexual victims of the Nazi persecution, designed in 1989 with the R.O.S.P.O. Collective at the Faculty of Architecture of the Polytechnic University of Milan.
"Tra gli spazi" is also an intriguing occasion to rediscover Levi's connection with interior design (see the "Edipo" lamp from 2003) and fashion.
Levi created indeed for the late fashion designer Cinzia Ruggeri a series of "Gioielli Guaritori" or "Healing Jewellery" (1986).
On display in the Triennale exhibition via a photoshoot from the '80s, the surreal and oversized pieces, made with unexpected materials such as cutlery or small paintings, aren't conceived to be worn like ordinary jewels, but they represent thaumaturgical designs, tokens to unlock the special power hidden in everyday objects.
Image credits for this post
1. Corrado Levi, Baci Urbani (Urban Kisses) in collaboration with Cliostraat, Turin, 1996. Courtesy Ribot Gallery
2. Corrado Levi, Poema in Colori (Poem in Colours), 1991
3. Corrado Levi, Panchina rosa triangolare (Triangular Pink Bench) in collaboration with Collettivo R.O.S.P.O.
4. Corrado Levi, Edipo (Oedipus) lamp, 2003
5. and 6. Corrado Levi, Gioielli Guaritori (Healing Jewellery) for Cinzia Ruggeri, 1986. Image credit: Ilvio Gallo
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