Arte Povera master Calzolari opens Mareterra gallery show
By Megan Jackson, MonacoViews Editorial
Italian artist Pier Paolo Calzolari has opened an exhibition of his Arte Povera work at 21Art Montecarlo in Mareterra.
The new gallery space 21Art Montecarlo, in the Mareterra district, is showing a selection of works by Pier Paolo Calzolari, one of the founding figures of the Arte Povera movement. The Italian artist travelled to Monaco to inaugurate the exhibition in person, a rare appearance for a figure who rarely attends openings outside Italy.
Calzolari's pieces, built from stripped-back materials such as lead, salt and neon, sit in deliberate contrast to the polish of the surrounding Mareterra development. The artist has long spoken of wanting his work to expand the viewer's capacity to dream, favouring austerity over spectacle even as it hangs in one of Monaco's newest addresses.
For residents of Mareterra, the arrival of a gallery with this level of artistic weight signals the district's ambition to become more than a residential extension of the Principality. It places contemporary art history within walking distance of the waterfront, and gives Monaco's growing gallery scene another serious reference point alongside the established houses of Monte Carlo.