Lucio Fontana
Spatialism. Pioneering the Contemporary
17 September – 19 December 2026
Hong Kong
Dates
17 September – 19 December 2026
Breaking the boundaries between painting and sculpture, Lucio Fontana (1899–1968) transformed the canvas into a dynamic area of light, gesture, and movement. His slashed and punctured surfaces, central to the Spatialism movement he founded, fundamentally redefined the relationship between artwork and space. Through an innovative aesthetic, his visionary practice paved the way for postwar contemporary art and continues to inspire artists around the world. In September 2026, Hauser & Wirth Hong Kong will present seminal works from 1949 onward, focusing on the revolutionary ‘Buchi’ (Holes) and ‘Tagli’ (Cuts), tracing the evolution of Spatialism and Fontana’s radical exploration of the canvas as a site of infinite possibility.
The Hong Kong exhibition, curated by Luca Massimo Barbero, marks the final chapter of a trilogy realized in collaboration with Fondazione Lucio Fontana, following presentations in Los Angeles (2020) and New York (2023). A major new publication on Fontana is forthcoming from Hauser & Wirth Publishers. Published on the occasion of the exhibition, this volume marks the first widely available introduction to the artist’s practice in Mandarin, offering Chinese audiences a comprehensive account of his groundbreaking career spanning 1920s to late 1960s alongside specifically translated writings by the artist.
Lucio Fontana, 1965 © Fondazione Lucio Fontana, Milano. Photo: Ugo Mulas
About the Artist
The pioneering artist Lucio Fontana (1899-1968) was born in Argentina to parents of Italian descent. After studying in Italy, he returned to Argentina in the 1920s where he pursued a career as a sculptor. In 1946, he published his Manifiesto Blanco, which called for the integration of art, science, and technology, and laid the foundations for the emergence of the Spatialist movement the following year. Best known for his Concetti Spaziali and Tagli series of slashed canvases, Fontana redefined postwar art by dismantling traditional boundaries between painting and sculpture, violating the integrity of the canvas to open up the new and infinite dimension of the void.
Current Exhibitions
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