Munari's projected paintings revived in Reggio Calabria installation

An immersive installation at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Reggio Calabria revives Bruno Munari's 'pittura proiettata' (projected painting), on view until October 26. The work stems from a digitization of polarized light slides by Miroslava Hajek and Marcello Francolini, originally created for the 2018 exhibition 'Bruno Munari, i Colori della Luce' at Fondazione Plart in Naples. Munari developed his 'proiezioni dirette' in the early 1950s, using compositions of various materials sandwiched between glass slides and projected indoors or onto building facades. He later advanced to 'proiezioni polarizzate' using a polarized filter on a slide projector. These works were first presented in Milan in 1953 and subsequently shown worldwide. Francolini emphasizes the installation's didactic and divulgative value in understanding Munari's breakthrough from two-dimensional canvas to light-based spatial works. Hajek notes that Munari began in 1950 with 'Proiezioni a Luce Fissa' using poor materials between glass, then in 1953 achieved full color spectrum manipulation with polarized light, merging matter and light in works that exist between the real and the phenomenal.