PIERO GILARDI 2002, SINGLE WORK, NATURE CARPET “BEACH WITH COASTAL LEAVES”

Limited edition sculpture by Piero Gilardi in expanded polyurethane in a plexiglass case.

Piero Gilardi was born in Turin in 1942, where he lived and worked until his death (3 March 2023).
In 1963, he held his first solo exhibition Machines for the future. Two years later he created his first works in expanded polyurethane, the Nature Carpets which he exhibited in Paris, Brussels, Cologne, Hamburg, Amsterdam and New York.

The mission of his Carpets was to involve the viewer through tactile and bodily experience: they contained Gilardi's ethical, ecological and political commitment. Made through an artificial material such as expanded polyurethane, which takes shape through the carving technique and is then impregnated with synthetic pigment, in the first experiments dissolved in vinyl resin and subsequently in rubber latex. This technique was a way to realize the dream of an ideal and uncontaminated nature.

Starting from 1968 he interrupted the production of works to participate in the development of the new artistic trends of the late 60s: Arte Povera, Land Art, Antiform Art. Collaborates in the creation of the first two international reviews of new trends in housing Stedelijk Museum of Amsterdam and to Kunsthalle of Bern.
In 1969, he began a long transcultural experience aimed at the theoretical analysis and practice of the "Art Life" conjunction. As a political militant and animator of youth culture he leads various experiences of collective creativity in the urban and "world" suburbs: Nicaragua, Indian Reserves in the USA and Africa.
In 1981 he resumed his activity in the artistic world, exhibiting installations in galleries accompanied by creative workshops with the public. Starting in 1985, he began artistic research with new technologies through the development of the IXIANA Project which, presented at the Parc de la Villette in Paris, prefigured a technological park in which the general public could experiment with digital technologies in an artistic sense. During the 90s he developed a series of interactive multimedia installations with intense international activity. Together with Claude Faure and Piotr Kowalski, he founded the international association Ars Technica. As head of the Italian section of Ars Technica he promotes the international Arslab exhibitions in Turin. Methods and Emotions (1992), Arslab. The Senses of the Virtual (1995), Arslab. The labyrinths of the body at play (1999).
He has published two books of theoretical reflection on his various research: Dall'arte alla vita, dalla vita all'arte (La Salamandra, Milan 1981) and Not for Sale (Mazzotta, Milan 2000 and Les Presses du réel, Dijon 2003). He writes articles for various art magazines such as Juliet and Flash Art.
He promoted the PAV – Parco Arte Vivente project, which opened in Turin in 2008, which summarizes all his experiences relating to the Nature/Culture dialectic.

For more information, consult the website: https://www.fondazionecentrostudipierogilardi.org/it/note-biografici/