Melotti Fausto

In 1936, Melotti created twelve, seven-foot tall plaster mannequins of a man, entitled Costante Uomo (Constant Man) (Second Room, Front), which were first displayed at the Sixth Triennale of Milan Beautiful yet vague, this representation of Man captures the enigmatic nature of existence While the towering white simplicity of this work seems blank and unanimous, it is also simultaneously personalized by the mark of the hand on the chest The figurative and mysterious nature of this work starkly contrasts with his conceptual abstract work of the previous year

During much of World War II, Melotti lived in Rome He returned to Milan in 1943 to find that bombs had destroyed his studio The traumatic experience of the war dramatically altered his artistic outlook, subordinating his love for pure, geometrical abstraction to his need for personal expression In 1943, he installed a muffle kiln in 1943 in his studio in Milan and began making figurative ceramics and small terra-cotta figurines Melotti made his first Teatrini, Solo coi cerchi (Alone with Circles), in 1944 These Teatrini represent miniature “theaters,” small and condensed worlds that use abstract and figurative elements to convey narratives They are open-front boxes that contain tiny figures and decorative elements that subtly suggest a story As one endeavors to understand the narrative, the viewer’s imagination brings a miniature performance to life Even when Melotti allusively titled these works, however, they retain a sense of ambiguity and still challenge the viewer to construct the drama

In the late 1950s, Melotti began adding delicate metal motifs to his Teatrini, which soon evolved into separate, free-standing sculptures In dramatic contrast to the narrative work he was simultaneously making with heavy ceramic, Melotti made these sculptures out of minimal fragile strokes Since they were made of shiny metal, usually brass and stainless steel, these sculptures create a dramatic interplay of light and shadow which seems to dance in highly rhythmical movements Although they share the profound harmony of his 1930s abstract sculptures, these works also add identifiable figurative motifs to the vocabulary of abstract forms These whimsical figurative elements create a narrative and infuse the works with a sense of joy He has brought the mysterious and wonderful tales of the Teatrini into his delicate metal sculptures, fusing his love for geometric and musical harmony with his penchant for enchanting story-telling