Contemporary sculptures shine in Massa, heart of Tuscany’s marble art
The exhibition “Gigi Guadagnucci | Giò Pomodoro: A Conversation on Nature” opens on June 21—Summer Solstice—at the Gigi Guadagnucci Museum, commemorating two significant anniversaries: the 110th birthday of Gigi Guadagnucci, one of the most celebrated names in Italian sculpture, and the 10th anniversary of the museum that bears his name.
This special event brings together two leading figures in 20th-century contemporary sculpture. Though their approaches differ—Guadagnucci known for poetic abstraction and Pomodoro for dynamic geometry—both sculptors share a deep connection with nature, material, and the unique expressive potential of marble. Their meeting, long overdue, offers the public a compelling encounter between two visions of form, space, and artistic legacy.
Exhibition Museo Guadagnucci
Celebrating Two Titans of Italian Sculpture
The exhibition is curated by art historian Mirco Taddeucci, in collaboration with Bruto Pomodoro, son of Giò and vice-president of the Giò Pomodoro Archive, led by Rossella Farinotti. Texts by art critic and director Paolo Bolpagni offer critical insight into the creative convergence of these two artistic masters.
With the support of the City of Massa’s Department of Culture, the initiative reaffirms Massa’s role not only as a hub of marble sculpture production but as a cultural landmark for lovers of marble art sculptures and contemporary art.
As Mayor Francesco Persiani stated, “This exhibition marks the beginning of a renewed artistic path for Massa. In particular, it highlights the relationship between art and the urban environment, while also celebrating the historical and architectural importance of Villa Rinchiostra and its recently restored gardens.”
Gigi Guadagnucci
A Sculptural Dialogue Through Nature and Form
At the heart of the exhibition is the concept of dialogue—not just between two artists, but between different forms, languages, and approaches to contemporary sculpture. Guadagnucci and Pomodoro each explored nature not through mimetic representation, but as an internalized process—a source of rhythm, movement, and transformation.
Guadagnucci’s work is rooted in his intimate relationship with marble. Raised in Massa, at the foot of the Apuan Alps, he developed a refined sculptural language that blends abstraction, stylization, and figuration. His marble sculptures are carved with such precision and sensitivity that they appear almost weightless, as though floating between matter and light. Surfaces are thinned into translucent layers, creating an illusion of fragility despite the inherent solidity of marble.
His pieces like Liana, Rondine, and Étoile—on display in this exhibition—are prime examples of how his artistic research revolves around the sensuality of organic forms. His ability to turn heavy stone into ethereal shapes showcases his mastery of marble art sculpture techniques.
In contrast, Giò Pomodoro developed a sculptural language based on energy, structure, and rhythm. Rather than depicting nature, he sought to express its invisible mechanics—expansion, growth, contraction—through geometrically structured compositions. His contemporary sculptures derive from deconstructed cylinders and spirals, with surfaces that appear under tension, echoing natural processes like seismic movement or cosmic rotation.
Works such as Folla, Tracce, and Sole Caduto per Galileo Galilei exemplify Pomodoro’s exploration of volume and balance, where each sculpture becomes a living form in motion. His time spent in Versilia, working with stone and bronze, allowed him to delve deeply into the potential of sculptural “torsion” as both a physical and conceptual force.
Gio’ Pomodoro, Sole caduto per Galileo Galilei (1997-2002)
The Exhibition Layout: Museum and Garden in Dialogue
The exhibition includes 18 works: 13 sculptures and five preparatory drawings. The ground floor of the Gigi Guadagnucci Museum features a curated mix of Pomodoro’s pieces alongside Guadagnucci’s permanent collection. On the upper level, visitors encounter the majority of Pomodoro’s work, accompanied by three rare Guadagnucci pieces on loan from private collections and institutions.
One of the exhibition’s highlights is the integration of Villa Rinchiostra’s 18th-century botanical garden into the curatorial experience. Here, a significant outdoor sculpture by Pomodoro is displayed among lush vegetation and classical geometry. This contextual placement enhances the show’s overarching theme: the convergence of art and nature, and how both artists—though with different sensibilities—reflect on the cyclical, evolving forces of the natural world.
Sculpture Beyond the Museum: Art in the City
A key feature of the initiative is the installation of Giò Pomodoro’s bronze sculpture Sole Deposto in Piazza Aranci, near Massa’s iconic obelisk, which doubles as a sundial. The piece, selected to coincide with the Summer Solstice opening, strengthens the symbolic link between solar rhythms and artistic memory. It also demonstrates a desire to expand contemporary sculpture beyond museum walls, bringing it into everyday life and urban landscapes.
This public installation connects Villa Rinchiostra with the city center, building a conceptual and visual bridge between heritage and innovation—between the classical and the modern.
Gio’ Pomodoro, Sole deposto (1982)
A Necessary Conversation in Marble
“The sensual and lush vegetal forms in Guadagnucci’s work,” curator Taddeucci explains, “go beyond representation—they investigate the internal logic of natural structures. Meanwhile, Pomodoro’s transition from organic motifs to ‘surfaces in tension’ represents the dynamic forces that shape existence.”
As Rossella Farinotti notes, “This dialogue between two virtuosos of Italian marble sculpture—from different generations but similar territories—was inevitable, both formally and historically.”
Art critic Paolo Bolpagni adds, “For both artists, reflecting on nature was not a secondary theme—it was the core of their practice. Each found in the Sun and natural laws a source of meaning and sculptural inquiry.”
Their convergence on this occasion, in a city built on marble and memory, is not only fitting—it is vital.