Lucio Fontana
On the Threshold

Lucio Fontana (1899 -1968) was one of the most innovative artists of the 20th century. Lucio Fontana. On the Threshold offers a unique opportunity to reconsider the legacy of this fundamental figure with a large selection of paintings, ceramic and bronze sculptures, drawings, and his ambienti spaziali installations, all of which he created between 1931 and 1968.

Fontana put painting at the center of his investigations and gained fame from using stilettos to systematically cut painted canvases. However, his practice covered a much vaster and complex territory that he addressed with Spatialism. Evoking the synthesis of all art forms, this concept encompassed multiple regimes of representation and materiality, and included sculpture as well as scenography. His experiments with light and space using neon tubes laid the foundations for later developments in installation and immersive art.

Organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in collaboration with the Fondazione Lucio Fontana and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.