Giuseppe Bergomi. Sculptures 1982 / 2024

The itinerary, arranged chronologically, starts in 1978, the year in which Bergomi made his debut at the Galleria dell’Incisione in Brescia with an exhibition of paintings only, one of which, Ritratto di famiglia (Family Portrait), also opens the current exhibition.
This event, fundamental for his career, convinced him to leave painting for the third dimension. Therefore, in 1982, again at the Galleria dell’Incisione, Bergomi held a solo exhibition with his first polychrome terracottas, from which, given the presence of his wife Alma as a model, the importance of biography in the artist’s production is already evident.

The exhibition continues with sculptures of the calibre of Bagnante addormentata (1991) and Grande nudo di adolescente (1991), works that are emblematic of the phase in which, at the turn of the late 1980s and early 1990s, Bergomi’s terracottas abandoned colour, recalling rather the ancient sculptural tradition, in particular the Etruscan tradition.

From the 2000s onwards, Bergomi switched from terracotta to bronze, giving rise to a new phase in his work in which colour, albeit on a new material support, once again becomes a characterising element. Exemplary works include Interno di bagno con figura femminile (2001), Autoritratto (2004). Standing out among the creations is the grandiose Ellipse, set up in the outdoor spaces of the Museum of Santa Giulia, in an evocative dialogue between the volumes and architecture of the monastery.

The exhibition continues with more recent sculptures, when Bergomi accepted the challenge of confronting public statuary through works such as Uomini, delfini, parallelepipedi (Men, dolphins, parallelepipeds) created in 2000 for the Nagoya aquarium in Japan, or the monument dedicated to Cristina Trivulzio di Belgiojoso, the first public sculpture ever dedicated to a woman in Milan.

The exhibition is ideally closed by the magnificent Africa con violoncello, exhibited at the 2011 Venice Biennale, and the unpublished work Colazione a letto (2024), which pays homage to three generations of his family through the depiction of his wife, daughters and granddaughters.

For further information see Giuseppe Bergomi. Sculptures 1982 / 2024 - Fondazione Brescia Musei