Lucio Pozzi “RELOCATIONS 1976-2017”

Hal Bromm

[Image: Lucio Pozzi "Sky Flags" (1998) acrylic on plywood, 2 parts; 28 x 27 1/2 in. (8 optional installations; dimensions approximate)]

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Hal Bromm Gallery exhibits a selection of works by Lucio Pozzi.

RELOCATIONS 1976-2017, represents one of the many families of work that LUCIO POZZI has engaged in during his long career. This particular family includes paintings on wood panels which have been cut and rearranged.

Pozzi questions many of the givens in artistic discourse. As a painter, sculptor, and writer, Pozzi sees the purpose of art not as an expression of the artist’s will, but as an instrument for the viewers’ creativity.

Lucio Pozzi views the utility of his art as an emotional and aesthetic response, averse to anything contemporary artistic discourse might consider his art’s deeper meaning. According to Pozzi, for an artist to be defined or packaged perverts a viewer’s response to that art. Speaking on the role of art in politics, for instance, Pozzi states: “Once art has lost the support of consensus about its purpose, it is arbitrary to try to force it into the straightjacket of any agenda. Packaging art into obligatory political activism or social criticism, makes it as much a consumer product as packaging it into a recognizable brand for the market”.

Pozzi detaches himself from his creations by having the intention of his art be designated by outside forces: the force of gravity, the structure of the room, or the viewers themselves. The purpose of his art–how one views it–is then malleable and minimally decided by the creator’s will. By doing this, Pozzi’s art becomes indefinable, a means through which viewers respond on a purely emotional and aesthetic level.

Palenque (1976), on view in the exhibition, is made from variously-sized rectangular pieces of wood, which are painted front and back and hung on a single nail through a hole drilled through each piece. The resulting form is decided by the piece’s location and the force of gravity, evoking a unique response each time it is hung anew. The order in which the red-painted layers are hung is additionally up to interpretation, and will be changed regularly during the exhibition. Here, Pozzi is distancing himself from the final product of his art and Palenque becomes a collaboration between various instruments of influence.

In distancing himself from the final product of his art, Pozzi is seemingly in flight from the words that might define him: employing an infinite number of styles and mediums. Free from the cage of definition, Pozzi has become an incredibly prolific artist and Hal Bromm Gallery is proud to present an important family from his oeuvre.

Lucio Pozzi (b. 1935) was born in Milan and moved to the United States in 1962 as a guest of the Harvard International Summer Seminar. His first of many exhibitions at Hal Bromm Gallery was in 1976. Though foremost a painter, Pozzi considers writing, drawing, and sculpture to be valuable tools to his art. He has an extensive teaching career as well, having lectured at Cooper Union, Yale Graduate Sculpture Program, Princeton University, and the School of Visual Arts NY. Pozzi currently splits his time between Hudson, NY and Valeggio, Italy.