Born in Turin in 1938. Mondino died in Turin in 2005.
1959 he moves to Paris, where he studies and meets several young surrealist painters. In 1960 he returns to Italy and starts doing exhibitions.
1972 – 1980 lives and works in Paris. Several exhibitions mostly in Italy.
Several journeys to Turkey, Marocco and India which influence his choice of subject matters for his work. In 1976 and 1993 he participates at the Biennale of Venice.
Grande Arabesque
1995
174 x 135 x 24 cm
bronze
A fish on one leg is unusual, surreal, an image straight out of a fairytale.
The title suggests virtuosity and artistry and such proves to be the case: A ballet shoe on a foot references, as does the sculpture’s title, a figure in classical ballet, in which one leg is stretched out behind at a 90° angle to the standing leg. Mondino’s work thus establishes a connection to Daniel Spoerri’s biography and simultaneously to another sculpture in the Giardino, which explicitly references Spoerri’s ballet career in the 1950s: »Daniel Nijinsky Superstar« by Not Vital (No. 81) It is well-known that irony and eclecticism are typical features of Mondino’s art. The combination of disparate elements is, however, not the only thing that catches the eye of the beholder when viewing this sculpture; the theme of balance is also important and creates a link with another work in the »Giardino«, namely to Roberto Barni’s »Continuo« (No. 57), where two men striding over a ladder have just reached the point of perfect balance. Upon closer observation, the wave-shaped structure on the fish body represents the water that flows around it. The foreign, non-native leg prevents the fish from swimming away. It is thus a symbolic image of steadfastness and fixity, and corresponds with another work in the Giardino, the »Monument to Settledness« by Bernhard Luginbühl (No. 34)
Grande Arabesque
1995
174 x 135 x 24 cm
bronze
A fish on one leg is unusual, surreal, an image straight out of a fairytale.
The title suggests virtuosity and artistry and such proves to be the case: A ballet shoe on a foot references, as does the sculpture’s title, a figure in classical ballet, in which one leg is stretched out behind at a 90° angle to the standing leg. Mondino’s work thus establishes a connection to Daniel Spoerri’s biography and simultaneously to another sculpture in the Giardino, which explicitly references Spoerri’s ballet career in the 1950s: »Daniel Nijinsky Superstar« by Not Vital (No. 81) It is well-known that irony and eclecticism are typical features of Mondino’s art. The combination of disparate elements is, however, not the only thing that catches the eye of the beholder when viewing this sculpture; the theme of balance is also important and creates a link with another work in the »Giardino«, namely to Roberto Barni’s »Continuo« (No. 57), where two men striding over a ladder have just reached the point of perfect balance. Upon closer observation, the wave-shaped structure on the fish body represents the water that flows around it. The foreign, non-native leg prevents the fish from swimming away. It is thus a symbolic image of steadfastness and fixity, and corresponds with another work in the Giardino, the »Monument to Settledness« by Bernhard Luginbühl (No. 34)
