Page 44 - Studio International - July 1965

The .sculpture of Pierluca The Universal Crime

by Guiseppe Marchiori

It was both possible and. indeed. essential that a
development would occur along the lines of the
characteristic 'lacerations· as a theme in the art of
Pierluca. This development duly occurred in the series
of sculptures grouped together under the collective
title of 'The Universal Crime·. This is not. as some may
suppose. a ready-made or gratuitous title. of the kind
which is so in favour these days. Pierluca is not
concerned solely with the question of form; form must
have its own significance and justification. or otherwise
the work cannot be more than an aesthetic chimera
destined. inevitably. to fall from favour just as the
fashion which inspired it will most surely pass away.
The sculptor's style is characterised by varying modes
and orientations; we can clearly distinguish a vital link
between the artist and his own epoch. though such a
connexion is difficult precisely to define.
Certainly, Pierluca wished to interpret-to represent­
through the medium of his titles. a certain social and
human truth. truth arrived at only after a long process of
mental anguish. and which. eventually, is expressed in
traditional or new forms. through a constant search for
clarification and accurate definition of the content of
the imagination.
For many years. Pierluca has devoted himself to the
theme of 'laceration·. an expression which may contain
specific symbolic allusions; but the theme is always
examined in a new and deeper light and new solutions
are found as the artist achieves complete mastery over
his material. incised. moulded. shaped and led into form
with exquisite and consummate care-the skill of the
man who uses fire as his essential medium.
plate t and
lacerated. have been chosen by the sculptor because
the challenge offered b the task of working them and
the the
medi it furthermore
p the
str th the
origina idea.
Fortuitous associations and sudden plays of light are
born out of the transformation of the material which is
achieved by the artist's conceptual power and his
capacity to exploit to the full every effect that is
produced in the course of his work. as the surface of
the metal changes.
Photo· Marianne Adelmann
The lacerations left by the flame as it penetrates
between the fibres of the aluminium. which becomes
as it were a living organism. are heightened by the
broken and corroded edges.
Should we. the observers. seek to interpret these
lacerations as the symbolic marks left by the passage
of anguish. despair. of man in contact with the walls
of the absurd. of his physical pain and obsessive
sexuality?
The significance which certain formal elements
assume from such an interpretation is always directlv
or indirectly related to the actual condition of the
artist; we shall examine this statement. firstly in the
light of the lacerations and secondly with the sculptures
of the 'Universal Crime' series.
The lacerations usually appear on the front of the work
and are based on the principle of contrast between the
vast raised surfaces of exceeding smoothness and the
rough-edged scars which interrupt this surface. based.
so to speak. on the fusion of metal under the ardent
heat from the artist's moving flame as it shapes and
gives life. These are monumental works but their
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