Sottiletta, 2007

Stainless steel and aluminium

178 × 156 × 6 cm

A wheel going up and down from the stool, Museum Flaminio Bertoni, Varese

Photo © Umberto Cavenago

A wheel going down and up from the stool

When I saw for the first time Sottiletta, Umberto Cavenago's sculpture, I didn't know from what point of view to look at it.
On the one hand I saw it as a surface and a wall, on the other as a definite profile and crack.
I thought of his sculpture as a drawing in space, a form in surplace. Indeed, it appears as a thin snout on two wheels, an oxymoron figure prefiguring stasis in motion. Its presence is also very light, minimal and cold. Movement, which is possible and practicable, is related to a moment... even if you don't perceive which moment.

Luca Scarabelli

Subtracting the third dimension

Imagine a line extending into space, a solid yet light trace that imposes itself as an almost graphic gesture. In this tension between surface and volume, between presence and absence, lies `Sottiletta` by Umberto Cavenago, an object that redefines the boundaries of sculpture. No longer monumental, no longer three-dimensional in the classical sense, but reduced to a subtlety that defies gravity and the viewer's expectations.

With this work, Cavenago aims to subtract the third dimension as much as possible, bringing sculpture closer to drawing. Made of stainless steel, `Sottiletta` appears as a surface compressed in space, with a thickness reduced to a few centimetres, a height of about 180 cm and a length of about 160 cm. Its presence is, paradoxically, both imposing and light, a contrast that destabilises the viewer's perception and invites him to reconsider the boundaries.

L.B.

The industrial world

In 'Sottiletta', Umberto Cavenago implements an extreme compression of the third dimension, reducing the sculpture to an almost two-dimensional surface. This reduction not only defines the minimal aesthetics of the work, but introduces a functional aspect that facilitates its storage, recalling the logic of efficiency typical of industrial consumer products. The physical thinness of the sculpture becomes an element that challenges the traditional monumentality of art, making it easily transportable and storable.

The name itself, 'Sottiletta', is an ironic and playful choice that contrasts with the formal rigour of the work. Cavenago draws on popular language, recalling an easily recognisable commercial product, the packaged processed cheese, creating a conceptual friction between high and low, between conceptual art and everyday life. This reference to the industrial world also underlines the link between sculpture and the concept of reproducibility, evoking the tension the artist explores between craftsmanship and industrialisation.

Through the name `Sottiletta`, Cavenago not only plays with the slender form of the work, but also introduces a dialogue between the physical lightness of the sculpture and the conceptual weight it carries. The work, like a metal version of melted cheese, becomes a manifesto of formal simplicity and subtle criticism, where complexity lies in the apparent lightness.

A wheel going up and down from the stool, Museum Flaminio Bertoni, Varese

Photo © Umberto Cavenago