Piero Gilardi, Arte Povera pioneer of ecological art and 'Nature Carpets', dies at 81

Piero Gilardi, the renowned Italian artist known for his role in the Arte Povera movement and his immersive creations called 'Nature Carpets', has passed away. He began his artistic journey in 1965 with floor sculptures that mimicked natural environments using carved polyurethane foam, vinyl resin, and later rubber latex. His notable piece, Terreno di montagna (1967), showcased four-meter alpine scenes complete with snow, moss, rocks, and croci flowers, evolving into interactive seascapes and forest carpets. While featured in Germano Celant's Arte Povera manifesto alongside Jannis Kounellis and Michelangelo Pistoletto, Gilardi's work was also influenced by Land Art and ecological activism. In the 1970s, he shifted focus to critique and political activism, participating in leftist movements across Nicaragua, U.S. Indian reservations, and Africa. He returned to sculpture in the 1980s and founded the Parco Arte Vivente in 2003 in Turin, showcasing works by artists like Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster. A retrospective of his work toured from Turin's Castello di Rivoli to the Van Abbe Museum and Nottingham Contemporary in 2012, culminating in a 2017 exhibition at MAXXI in Rome titled Piero Gilardi. Nature Forever.