Mario Nigro retrospective at Fondazione Ghisla in Locarno

Fondazione Ghisla in Locarno presents a retrospective of Mario Nigro (Pistoia, 1917 – Livorno, 1992), curated by Francesca Pola and Paolo Bolpagni, running until September 2, 2018. The exhibition spans multiple floors and is organized in collaboration with the Archivio dell’artista and the Fondazione Licia e Ludovico Ragghianti of Lucca. Nigro, a chemist by training (University of Pisa, 1940s), later earned a pharmacy degree and worked at Ospedali Riuniti in Livorno. His non-objective painting emerged post-war; he discovered abstraction at the 1948 Venice Biennale and connected with the Libreria Salto in Milan and the Movimento di Arte Concreta in 1949. The show highlights key works from the 1950s, reflecting his intellectual autonomy and social engagement, notably his response to the 1956 Hungarian uprising. From the mid-1960s to the 1970s, he developed 'prospettive progressive minimali' as part of his 'tempo totale' cycle, later moving toward an essential, existential spoliation.