Grande Radar

Arnaldo Pomodoro (b. 1926)

Constructed 1963
Installed 1974

Cast bronze
100 x 74 x 38 in (254 x 188 x 96.5 cm)

Located outside of the Cochrane-Woods Art Center, 5540 S. Greenwood Avenue, facing Court Theatre

Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, Gift of Debra and Robert N. Mayer from the Robert B. Mayer Memorial Loan Collection, 1983.46

During his first trip to the United States in 1959, Arnaldo Pomodoro saw Constantin Brancusi’s visionary sculptures for the first time at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. He subsequently established a lifelong goal to undermine the smooth curves and surfaces found in Brancusi’s work. Pomodoro once said to his friend, poet, and critic Francesco Leonetti:

The perfection of Brancusi was so beautiful and mysterious…at a certain moment I said to myself, really this perfection of the form in our time is inappropriate; it has to be destroyed. For me, the ‘destruction’ element in form was my most important discovery, and the most authentic both in terms of myself and my times.

Indeed, one of the most striking elements of Pomodoro’s Grande Radar is the drastic contrast between the even, bronze material of the body and the dense, brown, inscription–like marks in the center of both sides of the sculpture. The intricate nodes, teeth, foils, and threads seemingly carved into the material all contribute to the calculated destruction of Brancusi’s flawless surfaces. The original bronze color in these irregular areas is obscured by a matte dark brown patina to suggest a disconnection within the work. The jagged marks look anything but inviting to audiences compared to the surrounding golden frame, and perfection is certainly not the first thought to come to mind.

These complex relief textures found in Pomodoro’s sculptures have often been interpreted by critics as systems of undecipherable writing, resembling imitations of ancient sacred stones and tablets. Bronze is one of the most popular materials used in traditional sculpture–making, dating back to 2500 B.C. Combined with the fact that a number of Pomodoro’s early works take the forms of tall columns reminiscent of the ancient obelisks in Egypt and Rome, it’s reasonable to assume that the artist has an interest in primal culture.

Pomodoro, however, has refuted these claims and labels his textures instead as ciphers hinting at futuristic communication. In contrast to the ancient characteristics perceived by many critics, Pomodoro actually pays homage to technological innovations of the mid–20th century. Both the title and the flat, curved shape of Grande Radar, as well as the rest of the radar shape series, which Pomodoro created from 1962 to 1963, originate from radar technology that had rapidly advanced in the 1930s and 1940s.

The world saw abundant demand for such progress especially after World War II began in 1939. Radars acted as eyes for both the Allies and the Axis powers in spotting enemy airplanes, ships, and submarines, and their ability to navigate aircrafts, direct gunfire, and recognize hostile advances before attacks were launched was a vital factor in winning the war. Research and development groups for radar technology became prevalent in Pomodoro’s home country after it joined the Allies in 1943, resulting in plenty of exposure for the emerging artist.

Radar technology continued to grow and develop post–war, often taking the form of curved parabolic dishes or uniform rectangular scaffolds. Pomodoro’s other works in the radar series explore these two shapes; Radar n. 1 is essentially a curved rectangular prism while the other four radar sculptures all resemble satellite dishes. Grande Radar, which means “large radar” in Italian, is the largest and final sculpture in the series. It most closely resembles Radar n. 1, though the curvature is in the horizontal direction rather than the vertical

Despite his acknowledgement of radar technology, Pomodoro maintains his destructive impulse. On each radar shape, he presents a conflict of bronze body and jagged relief carvings. Like all pieces in this series, Grande Radar looks as if it’s crumbling apart at the intersections of the two distinct areas. We often see technology–inspired forms coming apart in Pomodoro’s other sculptures as well. He explains that:

he strives to “capture [a] sense of foreboding, of a certain anxiety about the course of events at that time in our history…to suggest that the misuse of our technology could destroy mankind.”

Correspondingly, radars and rapid progress in other modern technology caused World War II to become one of the deadliest wars in history.

Pomodoro further addresses the dark side of technology via the size and arrangement of Grande Radar. The sculpture stands at a height of over eight feet, dwarfing any human observer viewing it in close proximity. Once produced, it exists autonomously and can no longer be easily moved or altered by the artist himself. In its current state, Grande Radar wields much more power than its human creator.

Additionally, the very sides of the curved radar partially obstruct the viewer’s peripheral vision when close in distance. Radar screens are meant to assist mankind in pinpointing specific object movements and obtaining more information than we can gather without technological help. However, the arc of Pomodoro’s sculpture goes against the original intentions of the technology—observers have smaller visual fields, and the amount of information available to us about our surroundings is therefore reduced. Instead of adding on to the material we can gather ourselves, Grande Radar hinders our intrinsic abilities instead, challenging the objectives of the exact device that inspired its form.

Written by Dora Zhang, AB in Economics and Visual Arts, 2016

Artist profile

Arnaldo Pomodoro

(Italian, b. 1926)

Biography

Arnaldo Pomodoro was born in 1926 in Morciano di Romagna, Italy. In his twenties, he participated in the post–World War II reconstruction planning for public buildings at the Department of Civil Engineering in Pesaro, where he spent his childhood. While studying at the Pesaro Art Academy, Pomodoro focused on stage design, learning goldsmithery at workshops on the side.

In the 1950s, Pomodoro used basic hand tools to create a series of flat reliefs, a process he practiced for architectural design. These reliefs were influenced by and dedicated to the simple lines found in the drawings of Swiss–German artist Paul Klee. Pomodoro isolated sections of drawing and transformed the flat marks into raised textures. By the beginning of the next decade, he incorporated the relief–making process into the much larger, three–dimensional works for which he is now internationally known.

Pomodoro’s sculptures reveal a cautious attitude towards technological progress. The forms of his pieces often borrow from the smooth designs of mid–20th century technology, yet we can always find along the bronze surfaces blatant disruptions of intense texture, often altered with a different color to create a disconnect within the work. Today, Pomodoro lives and works in Milan.

Written by Dora Zhang, AB in Economics and Visual Arts, 2016

Sources

Hunter, Sam. Arnaldo Pomodoro. New York: Abbeville, 1982. Print

Pomodoro, Arnaldo. Arnaldo Pomodoro: Sculpture, 1960-1970. Berkeley: Art Museum, U of California, 1970. Print

Pomodoro, Arnaldo, and Flaminio Gualdoni. Arnaldo Pomodoro: Catalogo Ragionato Della Scultura. Milan: Skira, 2007. Print

Grande Radar

Arnaldo Pomodoro (b. 1926)

Constructed 1963
Installed 1974

Read more

Artist profile

Arnaldo Pomodoro

Biography

Related Links

Sources

Archival Materials

Source: Smart Museum archive

Source: Smart Museum archive

Further Reading

Grande Radar

Arnaldo Pomodoro (b. 1926)

Constructed 1963Installed 1974

Read more

Artist profile

Arnaldo Pomodoro

Biography

Related Links

Sources

Archival Materials

Source: Smart Museum archive

Source: Smart Museum archive

Further Reading

Constructed 1963
Installed 1974