Ugo La Pietra

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Torino 2011 – Risorgimento and Italian art ceramics

I’ve just come back from a week in Turin. I immensely enjoyed the city. It’s lively, friendly, easy going and there is so much happening. Apparently the city administration decided to step change the image of Turin when the place hosted the Winter Olympics in 2006 and has never stopped investing in culture and quality events. Even more so this year, 2011, the year of Italy’s 150th anniversary.

Italian flags were waving from all the balconies, softening the severe look of Turin’s ancient building and giving to the whole place a festive look. Each museum and city attraction had organized its own special event to celebrate the Risorgimento, the political and military movement that led to the unification of Italy, and the city key role in its success.

To make the most out of my days in Turin I had a carefully planned out schedule, a balanced mix of art, sightseeing and good food (of course!). And when it comes to art, ceramics are always on top of my mind! Here you go: a short but juicy report of Italian pottery in Turin 2011.

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Ugo La Pietra Art Ceramics in Castellamonte

March 7 – 30, 2009
Castellamonte – Italy

Italian Ceramics - Interno and Esterno (Inside and Outside) by Ugo La Pietra - Photo credits: Arte.go

“Terre e Territori” (Clays and Territories) promises to be an extremely interesting and rich exhibition, gathering more than 200 ceramic works signed by a man (and an artist, a designer, an architect, a great teacher, a journalist, a film director …) who stands out for his contribution to Italian Modern Art.

Since the 60’s he has been exploring the relationship between human beings and their environment and how it affects the evolution of the objects they use, the habits they develop, their perceptions of the space surrounding them, their communication.

Fascinated by visual media, be it new technology or traditional handcraftsmanship, La Pietra has used many of them to carry on his researches on everyday objects, to him useful functional tools, but also symbols of a specific decorative culture.

Pottery making has been part of his artistic evolution since the 80’s, when he started to work on the idea of a positive interaction between industrial design and the rich imagery of Italian ceramic craftsmanship. With very interesting results, indeed.

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