Domenico Calabrone (Aieta, Itália 1928 - São Paulo SP 2000)
Domenico Calabrone was a sculptor, painter, printmaker, jewelry designer and set designer. Between 1948 and 1951, he attended classes at the Liceo Classico in Rome, specializing in casting, mosaic and ceramic techniques. In 1954, he moved to São Paulo, where two years later he held his first solo exhibition at the Galeria Art's Store. In 1963, he showed at the 1ª Exposição do Jovem Desenho Nacional [1st Young National Drawing Exhibition] in São Paulo. In 1965, he took part in the 1st Salão Esso de Artistas Jovens [Esso Salon of Young Artists] at the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo (MAM/SP) and the Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo (MAC/USP). He showed work in the MAM/SP Panorama de Arte Atual Brasileira [Panorama of Current Brazilian Art] in 1975 and 1978.
In 1986, he received the International Prize for Contemporary Sculpture in Cassano Jonio, Italy. Also in the 1980s, he became interested in fractal art. In 1990, he received the acquisition prize at the Salão de Arte Contemporânea de Santo André, São Paulo; in 1991, he was given a special room at the Salão Paulista de Arte Contemporânea; and in 1994 he won the 41st Premio Internazionale di Pittura Città di Pizzo in his native country.
He held solo exhibitions at the Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia (MAM/BA) in Salvador in 1963; at MAM/RJ in 1965 and 1966; and at the Museu de Arte Contemporânea José Pancetti (MACC/Campinas) in 1992 – his last solo show. He took part in the Bienal Internacional de São Paulo from 1963 to 1991, the Salão Paulista de Arte Moderna between 1962 and 1964, and the Salão Paulista de Arte Contemporânea in 1987.
Critical Commentary
From the 1960s, Domenico Calabrone seems to seek in his sculpture - the artistic expression for which he is best known - a representation uniting organic and mechanical forms, conceiving figures that are half man, half machine. To this end, he looks for an effect of movement similar to, if more restrained than, that produced by the Italian futurist sculptor Umberto Boccioni (1882-1916) in works such as Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (1913). This would be the case of the bronze sculpture O Jornaleiro [The Newsboy]. The art critic Mário Schenberg (1914-1990) notes Calabrone's search for this synthesis, seeing his works of this period as "valid symbols of the machine-instrument and the robotized creature".1
During the 1970s, Calabrone began producing sculptures called "totems", in stone or bronze - or combining the two materials - some recalling pre-Columbian pieces, all of large and sometimes monumental dimensions, and probably intended for public spaces, such as those in Praça da Sé and Parque Villa-Lobos in São Paulo.
Later, the artist became interested in producing geometric sculptures, using a computer program to calculate their dimensions. Calabrone abandoned the geometrized organic forms of earlier years to work, from then on, only with superimposed or stacked geometric figures, usually in strong colors in plexiglass, a plastic similar in appearance to acrylic. In the 1990s, he produced paintings influenced by the ideas of fractal art.
Note
1 SCHENBERG, Mário. Calabrone. In: ______. Pensando a arte. 2ª ed. São Paulo: Nova Stella, 1988.
Critiques
"Calabrone is not one of those artists who remain locked into a particular type of work, rigorously policing their artistic practice. For him, creation certainly does not depend on a stereotyped form, with set measurements guided by unshakable creeds. He proves (...) that thinking about art on the basis of artistic models would be to commit the grossest error, since any creative process is always built from aesthetic variants, enriched also by the use of diverse techniques and materials. The natural complexity of Calabrone's output offers him multiple paths and, for that very reason, multiple choices. The broad training of this artist, who came very young from Italy to São Paulo, besides directing him firmly toward the particular research inherent to sculpture, also opens up to him the wide horizons of this century's communications, which foster an artistic practice founded on an open universe of creation".
Radha Abramo
CALABRONE. Calabrone: percurso revisitado em mármore de Carrara. São Paulo: Galeria de Arte André, 1988. p. 5.
Solo Exhibitions
1956 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Art's Store
1957 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Clube dos Artistas
1959 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Etoile
1961 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria de Arte da Folha
1962 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Selearte
1963 - Salvador BA - Solo, at MAM/BA
1964 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Astréia
1965 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Itália
1965 - Belo Horizonte MG - Solo, at Galeria Guignard
1965 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo, at MAM/RJ
1966 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo, at MAM/RJ
1966 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo, at Galeria Oca
1966 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Itália
1966 - Rome (Italy) - Solo, at Galeria Doria Pamphili
1967 - Belo Horizonte MG - Solo, at Sociedade de Cultura Artística
1968 - New York (United States) - Solo, at Ruth White Gallery
1968 - Punta del Este (Uruguay) - Solo, at Palácio Ramires
1969 - Porto Alegre RS - Solo, at Galeria Yázigi
1970 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Bonfiglioli
1970 - New York (United States) - Solo, at Marisa del Re Gallery
1971 - Telavive (Israel) - Solo, at Maskit Gallery
1972 - Geneva (Switzerland) - Solo, at Musée d'Art et d'Histoire
1972 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo, at Galeria Copacabana
1974 - Belo Horizonte MG - Solo, at Automóvel Clube
1974 - Milan (Italy) - Solo, at Galeria Ítalo Brasiliana
1974 - Rome (Italy) - Solo, at Galeria Doria Pamphili
1976 - Rome (Italy) - Solo, at Galeria Il Pasquino
1977 - Bergamo (Italy) - Solo, at Centro Culturale San Bartolomeo
1977 - Geneva (Switzerland) - Solo, at Galerie du Théâtre
1978 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Skultura
1979 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Arte Aplicada
1980 - Belo Horizonte MG - Solo, at J. S. Galeria de Arte
1980 - Belo Horizonte MG - Solo, at Galeria Guignard
1981 - Belo Horizonte MG - Solo, at Galeria Guignard
1982 - Brasília DF - Solo, at Hotel Nacional
1983 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Arte Aplicada
1985 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo, at Galeria Place des Arts
1988 - São Paulo SP - Calabrone: Percurso Revisitado em Mármore de Carrara [Calabrone: A Path Revisited in Carrara Marble], at Galeria de Arte André
1989 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Arte Aplicada
1989 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Chap Chap
1990 - Santos SP - Solo, at Galeria de Arte do Teatro Municipal Brás Cubas
1991 - São José dos Campos SP - Solo, at Galeria Arteuso
1991 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Casa Triângulo
1992 - Campinas SP - Solo, at MACC
1994 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Livraria Cultura Fractais
Group Exhibitions
1957 - São Paulo SP - Bienal Pavilion
1961 - Curitiba PR - Group show, at MAM/PR
1962 - Curitiba PR - Paraná Salon, at Biblioteca Pública do Paraná
1962 - São Paulo SP - São Paulo Modern Art Salon - Leirner Prize - Folha de S.Paulo
1963 - São Paulo SP - 7th São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
1963 - São Paulo SP - 1st Young National Drawing Exhibition, at Faap
1964 - Belo Horizonte MG - 1st Young National Drawing Exhibition, at MAP
1964 - São Paulo SP - 13th São Paulo Salon of Modern Art
1965 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 1st Esso Salon of Young Artists, at MAM/RJ
1965 - São Paulo SP - 8th São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
1965 - São Paulo SP - 1st Esso Salon of Young Artists, at MAC/USP
1967 - São Paulo SP - 9th São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
1971 - São Paulo SP - 11th São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
1972 - São Paulo SP - 4th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1974 - Milan (Italy) - Group show, at Museo d'Arte Moderna Fondazione Pagani
1975 - São Paulo SP - 13th São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
1975 - São Paulo SP - 7th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1976 - Penápolis SP - 2nd Noroeste Visual Arts Salon, at Fundação Educacional de Penápolis. Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Penápolis
1978 - Budapest (Hungary) - Sculpture Biennial
1978 - Penápolis SP - 3rd Noroeste Visual Arts Salon, at Fundação Educacional de Penápolis. Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Penápolis
1978 - Piracicaba SP - Contemporary Art Salon
1978 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 18th Art and Ecological Thought, at Biblioteca Euclides da Cunha
1978 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazilian Sculpture in Urban Space: 50 Years, at Praça Nossa Senhora da Paz
1978 - Santo André SP - Contemporary Art Salon
1978 - São Paulo SP - 1st Show of Furniture and Unusual Objects, at Paço das Artes
1978 - São Paulo SP - 10th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1979 - Skironio (Greece) - International Sculpture Biennial
1980 - Penápolis SP - 4th Noroeste Visual Arts Salon, at Fundação Educacional de Penápolis. Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Penápolis
1981 - Guarujá SP - Open-Air Sculpture, at Hotel Jequitimar
1981 - São Paulo SP - 13th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1981 - Washington (United States) - Group show, at Baci Gallery
1982 - Penápolis SP - 5th Noroeste Visual Arts Salon, at Fundação Educacional de Penápolis. Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Penápolis
1982 - São Paulo SP - A Century of Sculpture in Brazil, at MAM/SP
1984 - Curitiba PR - Simões de Assis Galeria de Arte: Inaugural Show, at Simões de Assis Galeria de Arte
1984 - São Paulo SP - Group show, at Galeria Artescultura
1984 - São Paulo SP - Tradition and Rupture: A Synthesis of Brazilian Art and Culture, at Fundação Bienal
1985 - Budapest (Hungary) - Sculpture Biennial
1985 - Milan (Italy) - Small Sculpture Biennial, at Fundação Pagani
1985 - Penápolis SP - 6th Noroeste Visual Arts Salon, at Fundação Educacional de Penápolis. Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Penápolis
1985 - São Paulo SP - Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1985 - Skironio (Greece) - International Sculpture Biennial
1986 - Massa (Italy) - International Sculpture, at Castello Malaspina
1986 - São Paulo SP - The New Dimension of the Object, at MAC/USP
1987 - Athens (Greece) - Group show, at Museu de Arte Moderna
1987 - Brasília DF - São Paulo Artists in Brasília, at Museu de Arte de Brasília
1987 - Santo André SP - Contemporary Art Salon - acquisition prize
1987 - São Paulo SP - 5th São Paulo Contemporary Art Salon, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1987 - São Paulo SP - A Trama do Gosto [The Weave of Taste], at Pavilhão da Bienal
1987 - São Paulo SP - 20th Contemporary Art Exhibition, at Chapel Art Show
1989 - Belo Horizonte MG - National Art Salon, at Museu de Arte de Belo Horizonte - prize sculpture
1989 - São Paulo SP - Open Studio Circuit, at IAB/SP
1990 - Santo André SP - Contemporary Art Salon - acquisition prize
1990 - São Paulo SP - Exhibition Celebrating the Second Anniversary of Casa Triângulo
1991 - São Paulo SP - 21st São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
1991 - São Paulo SP - Mata [Forest], at MAC/USP
1991 - São Paulo SP - São Paulo Contemporary Art Salon - special room
1992 - São Paulo SP - America: 500 Years, at Sesc Pompeia
1993 - São Paulo SP - 5, at Casa Triângulo
1993 - São Paulo SP - Works for Illustration of the Suplemento Literário: 1956 - 1967, at MAM/SP
1994 - Pietrasanta (Italy) - Sculpture International Award 1993
1994 - São Paulo SP - Collection 94, at Casa Triângulo
1994 - São Paulo SP - Mirrors and Shadows, at MAM/SP
1994 - São Paulo SP - Fractais [Fractals] - Expo l Homenagem [Tribute]
1994 - Tokyo (Japan) - Brazilian Contemporary Art in Tokyo, at Forijita Verté Museum
1995 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Mirrors and Shadows, at CCBB
1995 - São Paulo SP - Entre Objetos [Among Objects], at Galeria Nara Roesler
1996 - São Paulo SP - Contemporary Brazilian Art: Recent Donations, at MAM/SP
1996 - São Paulo SP - 1st Off Bienal, at Mube
1998 - Brasília DF - Cien Recuerdos para García Lorca [A Hundred Memories for García Lorca], at Espaço Cultural 508 Sul
1998 - São Paulo SP - The Art of Sculpture at Conjunto Nacional, at Conjunto Nacional
Posthumous Exhibitions
2000 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian Sculpture: From the Pinacoteca to the Jardim da Luz, at Pinacoteca do Estado
2001 - São Paulo SP - 4 Decades, at Nova André Galeria
Source: Itaú Cultural
