UGO LA PIETRA
Born in 1938 in Bussi sul Tirino (PE) and originally from Arpino (FR), Ugo La Pietra lives and works in Milan. An architect, artist, designer, and theorist, he has been exploring the relationship between "individual and environment" since 1962. Early on, he developed tools aimed at transforming the traditional dynamic between "work and spectator." Working across disciplines, La Pietra has always described himself as a "researcher in the visual arts." Known for his unconventional approach, he defies easy classification. Since the 1960s, he has engaged with a range of artistic movements, including sign-based art, conceptual art, environmental art, social art, narrative art, artist's cinema, new writing, extra media, neo-eclecticism, as well as radical architecture and design. His work has been accompanied by significant teaching and editorial activity. He has also been a driving force behind various research groups such as the "Gruppo La Lepre Lunare," Global Tools, Cooperativa Maroncelli, Fabbrica di Comunicazione, and Libero Laboratorio, all of which have promoted exhibitions and involved numerous professionals in the fields of art, architecture, and design. In 1962, La Pietra co-founded the "Gruppo del Cenobio" with Agostino Ferrari, Ettore Sordini, Angelo Verga, and Arturo Vermi, focusing on exhibitions centered around sign-based painting. He has held over 900 solo and group exhibitions, including participation in the Venice Biennale in 1970, 1978, and 1980, and the Milan Triennale in 1968, 1972, and 1979-81. His work has been shown at institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Museum of Contemporary Craft in New York, Galleria Palazzo Galvani in Bologna, the Neue Galerie in Graz, Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara, Fortezza da Basso in Florence, the Ragghianti Foundation in Lucca, Musée Departemental in Gap, Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Cologne, and the CCA Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal, among many others. In addition to his teaching work at universities in Italy and abroad, La Pietra has directed several influential magazines, including "In" (1971-74), "Progettare in più" (1973-74), "Brera flash," and "Fascicolo" (1976-79). Since 2000, he has been the editor of "Artigianato tra arte e design," and in 1980, he contributed to the magazine "Domus." Over the years, he has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Compasso d'Oro in 1979. As a designer, La Pietra has collaborated with major Italian companies like Arosio Viscardi, Gruppo industriale Busnelli, Poggi, Sellaro, and Zanotta
→ 01 LEPRE LUNARE, 1965, oil, graphite pencil and ink on canvas boardoil, graphite pencil and ink on canvas board, cm 18x24
