Detail of “Venus de Medici” (2020), pink onyx, 67 x 34 x 45 centimeters. Photo by Nicola Gnesi, courtesy of Massimiliano Pelletti
Italian versifier Massimiliano Pelletti (previously) gravitates toward imperfection, and his practice revolves virtually transforming presumed defects like impurities, cracks, or fries into elegantly carved figures. Pink marble sliced to reveal the stone’s pillowy, crystalline insides bisects the artist’s interpretation of Venus de Medici, while in “Blue Venus,” marbled sodalite and Mexican white onyx are spliced together into a fully worked bust. Contrasting smooth segments with the rough texture of unpolished stone, Pelletti evokes art history and warmed-over sculpture traditions through the lens of flaw and fallibility.
This focus on the material determines much of the artist’s workhis studio is conveniently located in Pietrasanta near caves filled with the precious stones he utilizesin wing to the way untried onyx or woebegone marble, for example, interacts with light. Understanding absorption, reflection, and illumination has grounded his practice and is a skill he’s ripened for decades. He explains:
When I was a child, I used to go downstairs to my grandfathers studio, and I could find him working marble, unchangingly next to the same window; from there, during unrepealable hours, a magical light entered that could make the sculpture scrutinizingly alive, with a soul. When I pointed it out to him, he answered me: My dear, the light is so important. There are some works that should be sold with the window that lights them up.
Pelletti is currently working toward a solo show slated for May 2023 in London, in wing to a series of sculptures set for exhibit in a public square in Italy. Until then, follow his practice on Instagram.
“Blue Horizon” (2022), sodalite and Mexican white onyx, 64 x 33 x 40 centimeters, 16-centimeter iron base. Photo by Nicola Gnesi, courtesy of Massimiliano Pelletti and Bowman Sculpture, London
“White Venus” (2022), Mexican white onyx, 173 x 31 x 43 centimeters. Photo by Nicola Gnesi, courtesy of Massimiliano Pelletti and Galerie Bayart, Paris
“Green Hermes” (2022), untried onyx, 177 x 26 x 26 centimeters. Photo by Nicola Gnesi, courtesy of Massimiliano Pelletti
“Le due Grazie” (2019), Mexican white onyx, 65 x 65 x 48 centimeters. Photo by Nicola Gnesi, courtesy of Massimiliano Pelletti
“Venus de Medici” (2020), pink onyx, 67 x 34 x 45 centimeters. Photo by Nicola Gnesi, courtesy of Massimiliano Pelletti
Detail of “Blue Horizon” (2022), sodalite and Mexican white onyx, 64 x 33 x 40 centimeters, 16-centimeter iron base. Photo by Nicola Gnesi, courtesy of Massimiliano Pelletti and Bowman Sculpture, London
“White Venus” (2022), Mexican white onyx, 173 x 31 x 43 centimeters. Photo by Nicola Gnesi, courtesy of Massimiliano Pelletti and Galerie Bayart, Paris
