Curated by Andrea Bellini

Turin-based sculptor Gianni Piacentino came of age in the 1960s, when the northern Italian city was still essentially a car town, dominated by Fiat, Lancia, and Moretti. His first career retrospective will demonstrate the ways in which his works have consistently embodied the industrial aesthetics of the local trade. From the wooden geometric structures included in early Arte Povera exhibitions to his most recent four-wheeled aluminum constructions, Piacentino’s large-scale minimal sculptures, with their slick, often poly-coated or enameled surfaces, are redolent of prototypes for aerodynamic machines. Perhaps most evocatively automotive are a series of handmade objects from the early ’70s “signed” with stylized metal initials that suggest hood ornaments. The exhibition, organized by newly installed director Andrea Bellini, will include a sidecar decorated by the artist, one of Piacentino’s many forays into designing real racing machines.

— Elizabeth Mangini