Scala solare 1979

Curator: We're looking at Gio Pomodoro’s bronze sculpture, "Scala solare," created in 1979. Editor: It’s weighty, imposing. There’s a solemnity to the bronze and those sharp, geometric forms... It looks like some kind of futuristic monument in ruins. Curator: Pomodoro, along with artists like Arnaldo and Giò Pomodoro—his brother—played a vital role in shaping the landscape of post-war Italian sculpture, moving towards abstraction while grappling with the legacy of classical forms. Editor: Interesting. So, 'Scala solare', or 'Solar ladder'... the title itself implies aspiration, reaching for enlightenment. But seeing it now, I read a critique, almost a melancholic comment on unrealized ambition. Is it an ascent or a descent? Curator: The use of bronze places it within a historical context of monumentality and power, historically intertwined with political messaging. Consider, also, the cultural milieu of the late 70s: Italy was confronting terrorism, political corruption, and social unrest. Perhaps this work reflects that fractured idealism. Editor: Exactly! The rough texture at the base contrasting with the smoother surfaces further up gives a sense of fragmentation. It could even represent broken social systems. We’re left with only fragmented stairs and this disrupted, deconstructed solar disk. The tension between geometry and erosion—are we to see this as evidence of decay? Curator: The question becomes: is this artwork, made in 1979, about hope or the disillusionment, the social and political fracturing you mention? His sculptures often engage with the concepts of tension, fragmentation, and reassembly. "Scala solare" almost appears to ask: what kind of society are we constructing? Editor: What remains potent today is that conversation around social projects, monuments, utopias. What happens when collective dreams don't pan out as intended, what materials endure. Curator: I agree. Pomodoro offers an abstract commentary on this very human ambition of collective ascent. Editor: Yes, and that invites the audience to consider that this solar ladder represents that hope, perpetually interrupted, fragmented, and waiting for reconstruction.