Giuseppe Uncini

Giuseppe Uncini was born in Fabriano in 1929.
After his beginnings in his hometown, in 1953, at the urging of his fellow countryman Edgardo Mannucci, he moved to Rome, as a guest in his studio, where he came into contact with a number of Italian and international art figures residing in the capital (Capogrossi, Afro, Mirko, Gentilini, Cagli and then Franchina and Colla who, together with Emilio Villa, assiduously frequented Burri and Mannucci's studios).
In 1955 he took part in the 7th Quadriennale in Rome at the Palazzo dell'Esposizione and, two years later, exhibited for the first time in Germany, in Frankfurt am Main, at the group show "Abstrakte italianische Kunst".

In 1956-57, he began the cycle of works called 'Terre' (Lands), panels made of tuffs, sand, ash and coloured pigments. However, the turning point in Uncini's artistic evolution came with the creation, between 1957 and 1958, of the first "Cementarmati", works made of iron, cement and wire mesh that allow a glimpse of the load-bearing structure of their making, in contrast to the compact and rough surfaces of the cement that often expose the grain of the formwork. In his works, the geometric-spatial research is evident, which places the constructive and architectural principle in the foreground where "matter is no longer," writes Giovanni Maria Accame, "a metaphor for an existential condition, as in the Informal, but by becoming receptive to external stimulation and confronting itself with historical reality, it presents itself as material".

Several exhibitions followed, bringing together the so-called Young Roman School: Uncini, Festa, Lo Savio, Angeli and Schifano. The first important solo exhibition was in 1961 at the Galleria l'Attico in Rome. In 1963, the foundation of Gruppo Uno became official with Biggi, Carrino, Frascà, Pace and Santoro, who held a series of exhibitions and published a manifesto explaining their poetics. Gruppo Uno, which dissolved in 1967, contrasted the research of the Informal movement with the idea of an art linked to the theory of perception, suggesting the different function of the artist in society. Argan was one of the most convinced supporters of this group.

Uncini's research continued from 1962 to 1965 with the "Ferrocementi", where the extremely polished cement, to the point of losing all reference to the material, has in the iron rod the real protagonist, which if it determines the dimensions of the cement, becomes a line of continuity between the external boundary and internal parts. This was followed in 1965 by the group of works entitled 'Strutturespazio', which would later be presented at the XXXIII Venice Biennale in 1966. In 1968, Uncini focused his interest on the function of shadow, which was to accompany him for a long time in the realisation of his works, and it was precisely in that year that Palma Bucarelli commissioned him the "Porta aperta con ombra" (Open door with shadow), which was to be exhibited as a division of two rooms in the Galleria Nazionale di Arte Moderna in Rome.

The encounters with Galleria Christian Stein in Turin (solo exhibitions in 1968, 1971 and 1975) and with Studio Marconi in Milan (solo exhibitions in 1973, 1976, 1980 and 1995) marked an important stage in the artist's career.
Then came the 'Bricks' series between 1969 and 1972 and the 'Shadows' series between 1972 and 1978, whose massive architectural presence dialogues and confronts its own shadow, which is also constructed and rendered as volume.
The 1980s are marked by the 'Dwellings', surfaces that give the idea of an architectural landscape: buildings, doors, windows, thresholds and their shadows carried. In 1984 Uncini was again present at the Venice Biennale with a solo room. In 1990 he participated in the exhibition L'Altra Scultura in Madrid, Barcelona and Darmstadt with the new cycle 'Iron Spaces'. In 1994, with the works 'Spazicemento', Uncini began his collaboration with Galleria Fumagalli in Bergamo. He continued his work with the 'Cement Walls' series.

In 1999, he exhibited Minimalia at PS1 in New York. In 2001 an important retrospective of Uncini's work was held at the Stadtische Kunsthalle in Mannheim. In September 2002, two important solo shows were held in Milan, at the Galleria Christian Stein w at the Galleria Giò Marconi, while at the turn of 2002 and 2003, the Galleria Fumagalli in Bergamo, alongside some historical pieces, presented a series of jewellery in gold, silver and diamonds, made using the lost-wax casting technique.

Since 2004, he has continued his work with 'Architectures'. In 2007, three different solo exhibitions were held at the Fondazione Marconi and Galleria Christian Stein in Milan and at Galleria Fumagalli in Bregamo.

In 2008, on the occasion of the Bologna Fair, the Catalogo Ragionato dell'Opera di Giuseppe Uncini, edited by Bruno Corà, was presented to the public. That same year, the new 'Artifici' cycle began and he was commissioned to create an important work for the Sculpture Park at the MART in Rovereto. At the same time, he began work on the project for the travelling anthological exhibition to be held between 2008 and 2009 at the ZKM in Karlsruhe, the MART in Rovereto and the Landesmuseum Joanneum in Graz. On the night of 31 March, at the age of 79, Uncini died suddenly in his home-studio in Trevi.