Pietro Consagra

Pietro Consagra, born in Mazara del Vallo (Trapani) in 1920 and died in Milan in 2005, was one of the most important Italian sculptors of the twentieth century and a leading figure in international abstraction. After studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Palermo, he moved to Rome in 1944, where he connected with artists such as Renato Guttuso and co-founded the Forma 1 group in 1947, which advocated abstract art with a Marxist and formalist vision. Consagra revolutionized traditional sculpture by introducing the concept of "frontality," creating works characterized by thin, flat surfaces meant to be viewed frontally, often made in bronze, iron, brass, and wood.
Throughout his career, he exhibited in numerous Venice Biennale editions, winning the Grand Prize for Sculpture in 1960. Among his most famous public works are the "Porta del Belice" in Gibellina, created between 1976 and 1981, and the large marble sculpture dedicated to Janus, over five meters tall, located in Largo Santa Susanna in Rome. Besides sculpture, Consagra was also a writer and art critic, authoring key texts such as "The Necessity of Sculpture" (1952), "The Frontal City" (1969), and his autobiography "My Life" (1980).
His work has had a lasting impact on contemporary Italian art, with particular attention to architectural and urban issues. In 2000, a room was dedicated to him at the Galerie der Stadt in Stuttgart. Pietro Consagra was awarded the Gold Medal as a Meritorious of Culture and Art.