9/5 – 22/6 2019
Curator | Paolo Bolpagni
10 A.M. ART Gallery | Milano | Italia
The exhibition presents the full scope of Luigi Veronesi’s multifaceted explorations (Milan, 1908–1998), unfolding a body of work that moves seamlessly between painting, scenography, cinema, graphic design, photography, applied arts and his renowned “visualisations of music” developed through systems of form and colour. The show reveals an artist whose practice consistently crosses disciplines, driven by a rigorous yet poetic investigation of abstraction.
Veronesi’s artistic language takes shape through his engagement with the European avant-garde. His encounter with the Venice Biennale marks a decisive moment, exposing him to the work of Kandinsky, Klee, Feininger and Schlemmer, while his repeated stays in Paris bring him into contact with figures such as Léger, Vantongerloo and the artists associated with Abstraction-Création, a group he joins in the mid-1930s. These exchanges consolidate an approach that situates him at the heart of international Constructivist and Concrete art.
The exhibition traces the development of Veronesi’s personal geometric-constructivist abstraction, rooted in the musical concept of variation and oriented toward rhythmic and harmonic dynamism. This concern with structure and movement leads naturally to cinema, where he experiments with “painting in motion” through a series of hand-coloured abstract films. Several of these rare works are presented, underscoring his pioneering contribution to experimental film and visual music.
Equally significant is Veronesi’s work in scenography and theatre. His engagement with stage design introduces a spatial and performative dimension to his practice, exemplified by original marionettes created for Histoire du soldat, which articulate a dialogue between abstraction, movement and narrative. These elements reveal how Veronesi extends geometric principles beyond the flat surface into three-dimensional and temporal experiences.
Curated by Paolo Bolpagni, the exhibition brings together key works spanning several decades, from early abstract engravings of the 1930s to major paintings from the 1940s, 1950s, 1970s and 1990s, alongside the chromatic visualisations of music developed in his later years. Together, they form a comprehensive overview of an artist whose work demonstrates an extraordinary openness to experimentation across media.
Throughout the exhibition, Veronesi emerges as a central figure in European abstraction, combining geometric precision with a restrained lyricism. His work articulates a carefully calibrated formal and chromatic rhythm, where rational structure and poetic intuition coexist, affirming abstraction as both a visual system and a sensorial experience.