ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Lucio Fontana's Spatial Environments Reconstructed in Gagosian Retrospective

exhibition · 2026-04-20

From May 3 to June 30, 2012, Gagosian Gallery in New York City hosted 'Lucio Fontana: Ambienti Spaziali,' a comprehensive retrospective of the renowned Italian artist Lucio Fontana. The exhibition included immersive environments such as Ambiente Spaziale (1968) and Ambienti spaziali a luce nero (1949). Fontana, a pivotal figure in trans-European avant-garde movements and a signatory of the 1946 Manifiesto blanco, began the showcase with early Concetti spaziali pieces from 1949, featuring the Buchi and Pietre series. Later creations like Attese (1958) and La fine di dio (1963-64) showcased vibrant neon hues and surgical cuts, highlighting Fontana's break from conventional painting, influenced by artists like Joan Miró and peers such as Jesús Rafael Soto and Yves Klein.

Key facts

  • Exhibition 'Lucio Fontana: Ambienti Spaziali' ran from May 3 to June 30, 2012
  • Held at Gagosian Gallery, 555 West 24 Street, New York City
  • Featured walk-in environments including Ambiente Spaziale (1968) and Ambienti spaziali a luce nero (1949)
  • Fontana developed Spazialismo after contributing to Manifiesto blanco in 1946
  • Show included series like Concetti spaziali, Buchi, Pietre, Attese, La fine di dio, Trinità, and Teatrini
  • Fontana was influenced by Joan Miró and associated with artists like Jesús Rafael Soto and Yves Klein
  • A New York Times critic in the late 1980s labeled Fontana's cuts 'misogynist'
  • Environments used black light and Day-Glo paint, invented in 1934

Entities

Artists

Institutions

Locations

  • New York City
  • United States
  • Buenos Aires
  • Argentina
  • Paris
  • France
  • Milan
  • Italy
  • Turin
  • Rosario
  • Varese
  • Amsterdam
  • Netherlands

Sources