The exhibition “UGO STERPINI – l’écart absolu” It was inaugurated on Saturday 15 June at the CSAC of the University of Parma, in the Sala delle Colonne of the Valserena Abbey.
The exhibition explores the profound connection between the artist and the Surrealist movement, on the occasion of the centenary of the movement’s foundation: Sterpini’s interest in Surrealism pervades much of his artistic career, as demonstrated by his personal library, full of critical texts, plays, novels and poems that nourished his imagination.
The works on display date mainly from the early 1960s, a period when Sterpini was closest to the movement in which he actively participated and was considered among the official members, as documented by his correspondence with André Breton, Jose Pierre and Arturo Schwartz.
Tra le opere esposte, Primavera insidiata del 1964 segna l’incontro con Breton e mostra evidenti influenze surrealiste. The 1966 series Fantasia Feminilil mixes elements of Pop Art and references to Xavièr Gauthier’s ‘Surrealism and Sexuality’, exploring eros as the driving force behind the Surrealist movement.
Along the way is The Throne of Ubu, a work exhibited among the Surrealist ‘meubles’ at the last major exhibition dedicated to the movement in 1965 in Paris, and a selection of furniture with anthropomorphic features from the same period.
The exhibition concludes with a screening of the Surrealist short film Un chien andalou by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí, made in 1929 and reworked in 1960, which well represents the dreamlike, delirious and psychoanalytic themes typical of the movement.
Sterpini’s affiliation with Surrealism, although apparently late, is profound and dictated by a genuine desire to know and share the movement’s fundamental principles.
Sterpini leaves behind an important artistic legacy with works donated to the Communication Studies and Archive Centre of the University of Parma, which preserves a fund of over one hundred works and a selection of volumes from his personal library. In 2003, CSAC dedicated a major monographic exhibition to him.
UGO STERPINI – l’écart absolu
by Giulia Ferrari
16 June – 1 September 2024
CSAC Centro Studi e Archivio della Comunicazione dell’Università di Parma
Abbey of Valserena
Strada Viazza di Paradigna 1, 43122 Parma
Museum opening hours:
Friday 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday 10 am-7pm
Entrance:
Full price ticket 10 euro
For info and reductions: https://www.csacparma.it/visita/
For information and reservations:
CSAC – Centro Studi e Archivio della Comunicazione dell’Università di Parma
csac@unipr.it
servizimuseali@csacunipr.it
+ 39 0521 903649
