The Sense of Sculpture. Practiced Sculpture in the 1970s Dematerializations Context

Caterina Martinelli, M.A.

This project examines the political language of abstract sculpture in public spaces in Italy during the 1970s, with a particular focus on the early work of Mauro Staccioli (1937–2018). During this period, public spaces in Italy became arenas of social unrest, labour movements, and political violence, providing fertile ground for artists to use public space as a medium for political expression.
Rejecting modernist monumentality, Staccioli's ephemeral concrete and iron sculptures, often dismantled after exhibitions, directly engaged with the social and political tensions of Italy’s Years of Lead, transforming public space into a site for dialogue with non-specialist audiences. His 1970s interventions functioned as temporary yet thought-provoking acts of resistance, challenging viewers to reconsider the relationship with the present. However, due to the ephemeral nature of many of Staccioli’s artworks coupled with the formalist leanings of Italian art history and criticism, the interpretation of Staccioli’s work has largely ignored its leftist underpinnings, site-specificity and materiality.
This research contextualises Staccioli's practice within the historical and socio-political framework of 1970s Italy and situates his work within the global sculptural discourse. By reassessing his work's materiality, site-specificity, and leftist ideology, this study seeks to illuminate Staccioli's crucial role in redefining sculpture as a form of political intervention.