Racconto alla strega no. 1 c. 1960 - 1964

This assemblage sculpture, Racconto alla strega no. 1, by Pietro Consagra, is made from painted wood and metal. I imagine Consagra approached the wood with a sort of rough tenderness, layering on the white paint. Then he added these shards and slivers of metal, puncturing the surface, pushing against its boundaries. I can't help but think of other sculptors, like David Smith, maybe, who were also wrestling with these materials. The rusty surfaces, the sharp edges - they speak of industry and decay, of stories etched in metal and wood. The title, 'Tale to a Witch', suggests a narrative, but it's a fractured one, a story told in fragments. It's like he's inviting us to piece together our own narrative from these evocative scraps, these whispers of material history. There's an ongoing conversation between artists, a dialogue across time, inspiring each other’s creative spirits. And in this exchange, meaning is never fixed, but always open to interpretation.