Ignazio Moncada's Pont Art featured in Manifesta 12 collateral event

Ignazio Moncada (1932–2012), the Sicilian-born inventor of Pont Art, will be celebrated during Manifesta 12 in Palermo through the collateral event 'Attraverso Palermo', opening June 15, 2018. The itinerary, promoted by the Archivio Ignazio Moncada, traces the artist's legacy across four sites: Palazzo Branciforte in Palermo, Museo Guttuso and Villa Trabia in Bagheria, and Museo Civico di Castelbuono. Moncada, a self-taught painter, moved to Paris in 1958, where he debuted at Galerie Devray and developed abstract works characterized by stark color contrasts and white intervals. He later lived in Brussels, Rome, and Milan, where in the 1970s he created the series 'Trasparenze' and 'Reperti di Archeologie Astratte'. In 1982, he painted abstract works on the plastic tarps covering scaffolding in Milan, a practice critic Pierre Restany termed 'Pont Art', anticipating urban art. His final work (2012) is the ceiling decoration of the library at Palazzo Branciforte, designed by Gae Aulenti. The collateral event is part of a broader project starting June 6 in Milan with 'Pitture in scena' at Federico Luger's gallery, curated by Francesco Tedeschi, and concluding June 23 at Convento del Carmine in Marsala with the retrospective 'Ignazio Moncada. Attraverso il colore', curated by Sergio Troisi, featuring 50 works from the 1950s to 2008. Ruggero Moncada di Paternò, the artist's son, states the project aims to highlight Moncada's deep ties to Sicily and will continue beyond Manifesta.