The Museo Comunale d'Arte Moderna in Ascona is pleased to present the first retrospective in Switzerland of the Italian artist Nanda Vigo (1936 -2020), one of the most significant figures of the 1960s avant-garde.

The exhibition Alfabeto Cosmogonico, curated by Alberto Fiz and realised in collaboration with the Archivio Nanda Vigo in Milan, takes place on the two floors of the Museum and allows the visitor to understand the artist's creative process through a division into thematic areas, in a particularly spectacular and engaging setting, with a site-specific intervention created for the occasion.

More than 40 works are on display, from the late 1950s to the2000s, in an itinerary that presents the fundamental phases of Nanda Vigo's creativity, starting with architecture. Thanks to the collaboration with students from the Accademia di Architettura in Mendrisio, the exhibition showcases the scale reconstruction of two architectural projects conceived in the first half of the 1960s - the Monumento per i morti del Vajont (Monument for the Vajont Deaths) and the Torri cimiteriali (Cemetery Towers) - that are fundamental for understanding her later achievements.

The visitor is then able to engage with what is probably the artist's most famous investigation, that of chronotopia, which represents the fusion of time (chronos) with space (topos) through light. In the exhibition there are five Cronotopi (Chronotopes) and the Ambiente Cronotopico (Chronotopic Environment) of over two and a half metres is reconstructed, allowing for an immersive experience. There is also the Parete Cronotopica (Chronotopic Wall) of over four metres, created for the occasion, which radically changes the perception of the Museum.

The dynamism of light, a fundamental element in Nanda Vigo's artistic language, is manifested through the Deep Spaces, radiating or directional works, and continues with the Light Trees that develop an innovative idea of reflection on space where nature and artifice find a new dynamic.

The show also includes the opportunity to immerse oneself in a red and blue light environment evocatively entitled Genesis Light where light takes on a transcendent quality.

The desire to analyse Nanda Vigo's versatility on the basis of research where languages are interconnected also leads to the theme of design in a room that becomes a real living space where her most famous creations can be found including the Mobile Cronotopo (Chronotope cabinet) and the Golden Gate lamp.

The exhibition concludes with the two luminous totems Goral and the projection of Venerezia, Venezia è un'illusione cosmica (Venerezia, Venice is a cosmic illusion) of 1978, a rare film made by Nanda Vigo in which she is the protagonist of a performance where the different elements of her work Alfabeto  Cosmogonico (Cosmogonic Alphabet) interact with the architecture of the lagoon city and with the artist's body.

The exhibition is accompanied by a bilingual catalogue (Italian and English) published by Magonza with essays by Alberto Fiz, Ilaria Bignotti, Fulvio Irace, Barbara Könches, Marco Meneguzzo and the Archivio Nanda Vigo.

Plakat

Künstler

Nanda Vigo

Porträt von Nanda Vigo | Foto: Nini und Ugo Mulas | © Archivio Nanda Vigo, Milano

Mailand, 1936 - Mailand, 2020.

Nanda Vigo interessierte sich schon früh für Kunst, als sie die Gelegenheit hatte, mit Filippo de Pisis, einem Freund der Familie, Zeit zu verbringen und die Architektur von Giuseppe Terragni zu beobachten. Nach ihrem Abschluss an der École polytechnique fédérale in Lausanne beschloss sie, nach Amerika zu reisen, wo sie ein wichtiges Praktikum in San Francisco absolvierte. 1959 eröffnete Vigo ihr eigenes Atelier in Mailand. Ab 1959 besuchte sie das Atelier von Lucio Fontana und wandte sich dann an die Künstler, die die Galerie Azimut in Mailand gegründet hatten, Piero Manzoni und Enrico Castellani. Während dieser Zeit, zwischen mehreren Reisen zu Ausstellungen in ganz Europa (mehr als 400 Gruppen- und Einzelausstellungen), lernte Vigo die Künstler und Orte der ZERO-Bewegung in Deutschland, Holland und Frankreich kennen. In ihrem Schaffen verbindet Vigo Kunst, Design, Architektur und Umwelt interdisziplinär und ist in ihrer Funktion als Architketin, Designerin und Künstlerin an zahlreichen Projekten beteiligt. Im Jahr 1959 begann sie mit der Planung des ZERO House in Mailand, das erst 1962 fertig gestellt wurde. Zwischen 1964 und 1966 nahm sie an mindestens dreizehn ZERO-Ausstellungen teil und kuratierte 1965 die legendäre ZERO-Avantgarde-Ausstellung im Atelier von Lucio Fontana in Mailand. Zwischen 1965 und 1968 arbeitete sie mit Gio Ponti zusammen und schuf mit ihm das Haus Lo scarabeo sotto la foglia in Malo (Vi). In den 1960er Jahren arbeitete sie auch an der Entwicklung von Kronotopen, abgeleitet von den griechischen Begriffen chronos (Zeit) und topos (Ort). 1971 erhielt Vigo den "New York Award for Industrial Design" für ihre Leuchtenentwürfe (Golden Gate-Lampe). Im selben Jahr entwarf und realisierte sie eines ihrer spektakulärsten Projekte für das Casa Museo Remo Brindisi in Lido di Spina (Fe). Im Jahr 1976 gewann sie den 1. St. Gobain-Preis für Glasdesign. In den 1970er Jahren schuf sie eine Reihe von Werken mit dem Titel Trigger of the Space und 1980 den Alfabeto Cosmogonico. Werke wie Genesis, Deep Space und Galactica Sky stammen aus den 2000er Jahren. Am 9. September 2020 wurde sie mit dem "XXVI Compasso d'Oro alla Carriera" ausgezeichnet.

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Nanda Vigo (Milan, 1936 -2020) showed an interest in art from an early age, when she had the opportunity to spend time in the company of Filippo de Pisis, a family friend, and to observe the architecture of Giuseppe Terragni. After graduating from the École polytechnique fédérale in Lausanne, she decided to leave for the United States where she began an important internship in San Francisco. In 1959, Vigo opened her own studio in Milan. From 1959 she frequented Lucio Fontana's atelier and then approached the artists who had founded the Azimut Gallery in Milan, Piero Manzoni and Enrico Castellani. During this period, between several trips to exhibitions all over Europe, Vigo got to know the artists and places of the ZERO movement in Germany, Holland and France.
In her work, Vigo operates in an interdisciplinary relationship between art, design, and architecture, and is involved in multiple projects. In 1959, she began designing the ZERO House in Milan, which was completed in 1962. Between 1964 and 1966, she participated in at least thirteen ZERO exhibitions and in 1965 she curated the legendary ZERO Avantgarde exhibition in Lucio Fontana's studio in Milan. Between 1965 and 1968 she collaborated and created the house Lo scarabeo sotto la foglia in Malo (Vi) with Gio Ponti. In the 1960s she also worked on and created Chronotopes, from the Greek chronos (time) and topos (place). In 1971 Vigo was awarded the New York Award for Industrial Design for her development of lamps (Golden Gate lamp) and in the same year she designed and realised one of her most spectacular projects for the Casa Museo Remo Brindisi in Lido di Spina (Fe). In 1976 she won the 1st St. Gobain Prize for glass design. In the 1970s she created the series of works entitled Trigger of the Space, while in 1980 she produced Alfabeto Cosmogonico. Works such as Genesis, Deep Space and Galactica Sky date from the 2000s. She passed away on 16 May 2020 in Milan and on 9 September was awarded the "˜XXVI Compasso d'Oro alla Carriera' award posthumously.

Fotografien

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