elemental

I follow the thin black line.
Drawings by Costantino Nivola

Although Costantino Nivola was an extraordinary draftsman, and for almost ten years had worked as a graphic designer and a professional illustrator, he regarded himself above all as a sculptor, or more precisely a sculptor-builder, heir to the ancient nuraghi builders, faithful to the vocation passed on to him by his mason father. This is why his graphic work has gained little recognition. Yet, it is a body of work of great interest and quality, a cross-section of which is exhibited for the first time: over a hundred works, almost all unpublished.

The drawings and illustrations on display, made between 1941 and 1980, document the central and most productive phases of the artist’s career: his first period in New York, shortly after his flight from Fascist Italy, divided between commercial graphics and exploratory works (1940-1945); his approach to sculpture in 1950 and a return to his home-town, Orani, in 1958; the preparatory drawings for major public commissions; the so-far ignored episode of tapestry design (1960 – 1966); the private series of the Beds and Male Figures; the biting drawings of political and social criticism he had begun working on since 1968.

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On this week’s episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Tony travels to his wife’s homeland of Sardinia.  During the episode, the Bourdain family spends time walking through Piazza Sebastiano Satta designed by the late Richard Stein, FAIA (father and partner to elemental founder Carl Stein) and noted Sardinian sculptor Constantino Nivola in 1966. From the scenes in the show, the piazza appears to have changed very little from its original design.

Other collbaorations between Nivola and Richard & Carl Stein include Stephen Wise Plaza on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, PS 55 in Staten Island and The Combined Police & Fire Facility on East 67th Street – winner of an Integration of Sculpture in Public Architecture Award from the NYC Art Commission.

Read more on Nivola’s contributions and collaborations to public architecture here.