Stage Presence

Fendi's Roman HQ sets the scene for a new show celebrating the monumental work of Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro

- By Harriet Lloyd-Smith

The word 'prolific' is often thrown around, but Arnaldo Pomodoro, who turns 97 this month, could outshine most artists when it comes to the scope and versatility of his creative output. He has exhibited on five continents, masterminded staggering environmental and architectural works, created set and costume designs for a panoply of theatrical works, and currently has more than 230 of his works on view in public collections and spaces around the globe.

Born in Montefeltro in 1926 and based in Milan since 1954, Pomodoro began his career as a restoration consultant in Pesaro while studying stage design and working as a jeweller. In the following decades, he proved his creative versatility; as an artist, educator, documenter of global culture, and sculpture pioneer. He executed his first public commission in the early 1960s when he created a relief for the façade of Cologne's adult education centre on Josef-HaubrichHof. Soon after, he shifted gears to create the sculptures for which he is best known: geometric spheres, discs, pyramids, cones, columns and cubes. Mostly rendered in burnished bronze, these early works are evocative of futuristic cities containing fossil-like bones of ancient civilisations. In 1966, he began experimenting with largescale sculpture, creating Sfera Grande for the Montreal Expo. The piece now sits outside the Palazzo della Farnesina in Rome, the same city where the artist is currently on show at the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, the Roman HQ of luxury fashion house Fendi.