APCOM

Matthew Spender's love for Italy might not be known to everybody, but by looking at his works it becomes evident. In order to analyse the artistic path of the English painter and sculptor, Milano's committee for Culture has set up an exhibition which gathers 72 masterpieces, branched according to the type of materials used: terracotta, polychrome wood, marbles and paintings.

Until June 8th, the Castello Sforzesco houses the best productions by Spender who, after studying at Oxford and in London, at the age of 23 moved to Gaiole in Chianti, near Siena, with his wife Maro Gorky, also a painter. English painter Francis Bacon and Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci are among his main collectors. The latest showed his appreciation also by using 47 Spender's works in his 1996 movie 'Io Ballo da sola' (Stealing Beauty), which was set in Tuscany.

Spender's sculptures are permeated by his passion and knowledge of Italian classics, from ancient Etruscans to modern authors as Arturo Martini, and by the deep research he carried out with them. In the last few months, the Londoner artist focused on the Milanese event by preparing a group of narrative works on daily life made of painted and glass-lined terracotta. Among the others, Spender portrays what goes on inside a flower shop, a boutique selling bizarre hats and a lingerie store, his narrative sculptures bordering the aesthetics of contemporary kitsch.