Roberto Cordone
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Roberto Cordone (born 11 April 1941 in
Vallecrosia Vallecrosia ( or ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Imperia in the Italy, Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about west of Imperia (city), Imperia. It is next to the busy city of Ventimiglia, Italy, Vent ...
, Liguria) is an Italian artist and sculptor. He has spent most of his career in
Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
, Germany. His signature work, the monumental sculpture, ''Movimento Ellissoidale'' (2001), made of aluminium alloy, stands in front of the ARAG-Tower in
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...
, designed by Sir
Norman Foster Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank (born 1 June 1935) is an English architect. Closely associated with the development of high-tech architecture, Lord Foster is recognised as a key figure in British modernist architecture. Hi ...
.


Life

Cordone received his artistic training from the painter in
Bordighera Bordighera (; , locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Imperia, Liguria (Italy). Geography Bordighera is located from the land border between Italy and France, the French coast is visible from the town. Having the Capo Sant'Ampel ...
, Italy. In 1960, he emigrated to
Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
, Germany and increasingly shifted his focus to sculpture. Since 1966, he has participated in solo and group exhibitions in German and Italian museums and galleries. His commissions for large-scale works are found in many public places in Germany. In 1969, he received the German award ars viva. Cordone has a large number of sculptures in museums, including the
Museum Ludwig Museum Ludwig, located in Cologne, Germany, houses a collection of modern art. It includes works from Pop Art, Abstract and Surrealism, and has one of the largest Picasso collections in Europe. It holds many works by Andy Warhol and Roy Lic ...
in Cologne and
Museum Kunstpalast The Kunstpalast, formerly Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf is an art museum in Düsseldorf. History The roots of the museum go back around 300 years. In 1932, the collection of the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (Academy of Art) was housed in the Kunstmus ...
in Düsseldorf, and the
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna The ("National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art"), also known as La Galleria Nazionale, is an art museum in Rome. It was founded in 1883 on the initiative of the then minister Guido Baccelli and is dedicated to modern and contemporary ar ...
, Rome. Cordone is an elected member of the in Rome. Today, he lives with his wife in Cologne, Germany.


Work

Cordone's work consists mostly of abstract sculptures of bronze, stainless steel, and alloys of titanium and aluminum. His early works are linked to the tradition of the classical modernism of the 20th century, which deemphasizes representation in favor of the abstract. Cordone seeks new content in abstract sculptures. The art historian Uta Gerlach-Laxner stated that his work evolved to often suggest associations with the sensory-organic world, forming a "symbiosis of the organically grown and the technically constructed."Uta Gerlach-Laxner. Roberto Cordone, Galerie Schlichtenmaier. Schloss Dätzingen, 2011. Translated from German
Link to exhibit catalogue
/ref> According to the art historian , Cordone succeeds in creating “a higher nature,” introducing the viewer to a “new world of visual and spiritual experience.”Hans Ost. Roberto Cordone, Galerie Apicella. Cologne 1990.A distinctive characteristic of many of his sculptures flows from his specific use of hard-to-cast alloys and intense workmanship with these materials to reflect light. His technique, which required him to expand his expertise in metalworking, grew from the realization that “light-reflections could be used to substitute for many of the lines and contours” in a sculpture.Evelyn Weiss, “Interview with Roberto Cordone,” in Roberto Cordone, Perpendicolari—Verticalli Arbeiten von 1967-1975, Deutsches Klingenmuseum
Solingen Solingen (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 25 km east of Düsseldorf along the northern edge of the Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr. After Wuppertal, it is the second-largest city in the Bergisches Land, and a member of ...
, 26.10-7.12.1975. In English.


Perpendicolari

His ''Perpendicolari'' sculptures, first developed in the middle of the 1960s, were a "step from the figurative to the abstract, and at the same time, a breakthrough to artistic autonomy." The life-size ''Perpendicolari'' works are slender metal sculptures of vertical axiality, free of a pedestal and imperceptibly attached to the ceiling by thin wires. They only lightly touch the ground and can be subtly twisted by the slightest impact so that they seem to float. Movement and apparent weightlessness become the characteristic of Cordone's artistic expression. “In spite of what are enormous weights,” according to the German art critic , Cordone achieves a property that might be described as “making light of the heavy.”Walter Vitt, ''Making Light of the Heavy'', in Roberto Cordone, ''Movimenti'', Museum Morsbroich,
Leverkusen Leverkusen () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the south, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne, and to the north the state capital, Düsseldorf. The city is part of the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan ...
, 1995.
With their form related to "human dimensions and proportions," according to Ost, "the Perpendiculari seem to float in space, weightless like a dancer, propelling himself into the air.”


Vertikali

The ''Vertikali'' sculptures were conceived for the outdoors, anchored to the earth, often in correspondence with the surrounding architecture. They are stainless steel sculptures, larger than life, built by using segments of cylinders and spheres welded together in symmetrical or asymmetrical relationships. Because of their highly polished, reflective metal surfaces, these sculptures reflect the surrounding environment and architecture and are in a constant process of change.


Componibili

The original sculptures ''Componibili'' of 1972 and 1973 were made from a special industrial polyurethane and based on the tetrahedral model of the
carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...
atom. They could be set up in a variety of ways, becoming ever new forms. A further development, which originated from the middle element of the ''Componibili'', is the sculpture ''Cyclopentan'' (1973). It is now in the
Bayer Bayer AG (English: , commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies and biomedical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer' ...
collection and was exhibited in 2013 in the
Martin-Gropius-Bau Martin-Gropius-Bau, commonly known as Gropius Bau, is an important exhibition space in Berlin, Germany. Originally a museum of applied arts, the building has been a listed historical monument since 1966. It is located at 7 Niederkirchnerstraße ...
in Berlin. These sculptures recently celebrated their 50th anniversary with an exhibition in
Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
br>


Velari

The ''Velari'' group of sculptures evolved from the ''Perpendicolari'' sculptures. The ''Velari'' are also designed axially with no pedestal but with less volume and leaned against a wall, moved in space, or positioned as desired. Their shape is reminiscent of the wave-like movement of sails in the wind.


Elicoidali

The ''Elicoidali'' sculptures are the "logical result of long artistic work” from the single vertical axial ''Perpendiculari'' to sculptures able to freely move in a room, changing their axis as they move. No longer suspended or standing in a fixed place, the Elicoidali represent a "new design principle and a remarkable breadth of variation" in the inventory of forms. They appear to constantly change shape as they move. By reducing their plastic volume, they receive an optical lightness despite the heaviness and hardness of the material, which seem to make them independent of the laws of gravity. According to Vitt, Cordone “succeeds in dematerializing the mass of these sculptures to a high degree.” As the ''Elicoidali'' are rolled, their edges form a continuous helicoid, or spiral, on the surface, whereby the three-dimensional sculptures appear projected on a plane.


Sculpture and Dance

In the 1993 German television production ''Sculpture and Dance: Heavy Metal and Light Steps'', the ''Elicoidali'' and the ''Perpendicolari'' were brought together on the stage with a professional ballet company. The dancers moved and intertwined themselves with these sculptures. The art historian
Eduard Trier Eduard Trier (4 January 1920 - 27 June 2009) was a German art historian, exhibition curator and academic. From 1965 to 1972 he was director of the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. He also wrote several pieces on modern art. Career He was born in Colo ...
characterized Cordone's work as “sculptural beings.” The ''Elicoidali'' and the ''Perpendicolari'' acted as equal ballet figures on stage and merged with the artistic movement of ballet dancers to form a total work of art. In the course of the development of the sculptural ballets, Cordone also created photographic canvases of the interaction of the dancers and the sculptures.


Ellissoidale

In 2001, Cordone designed a large-scale, outdoor monumental sculpture ''Movimento Ellissoidale'', which stands in shallow water in front of the ARAG Tower in
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...
.Cordone at the ARAG Tower
Accessed on May 19, 2019.
Made from an alloy of aluminum and titanium, its high sail-like vertical form creates a five-ton wind-kinetic sculpture. An offset center of gravity, with an "inner pivot and self-aligning bearings, as used in shafts driven by a ship’s propeller, allows the large sculpture to maneuver freely like a sailing ship.”Gerhard Kolberg: Movimento Ellissoidale. Roberto Cordone. Düsseldorf, 2001, . Whether large gusts or gentle winds, the sculpture nautically corrects “in the wind."


References


External links


"Bermel von Luxburg Gallery, Berlin, on Roberto Cordone, 2021"

“Interview with Achim Moeller
Achim Moeller, Moeller Fine Art, New York/Berlin,
Art Cologne Art Cologne is an art exhibition, art fair held annually in Cologne, Germany and was established in 1967 as ''Kölner Kunstmarkt''. It is regarded as the world's oldest art fair of its kind. The fair runs for six days and brings together galleries ...
2014, April 11, 2014. Video: K. Zupan-Rupp, F. Zachoval, VernissageTV. Starting at minute 4:45 (out of 5:48).
SkulpTour Düsseldorf

“Dance is Transformation, Part Two
” Galerie Schlichtenmaier,
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
, 2020, October 10, 2020. Starting at minute 5:53.
“Dance is Transformation
” Horst Simschek, Galerie Schlichtenmaier,
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
, 2020, October 15, 2020. Starting at minute 2:20. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cordone, Roberto 1941 births Living people 20th-century Italian sculptors 20th-century Italian male artists 21st-century Italian sculptors People from the Province of Imperia Italian expatriates in Germany Artists from Cologne 21st-century Italian male artists