GAMeC – Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Bergamo will hold the exhibition Pio Manzù. When the World was Modern, curated by Giacinto Di Pietrantonio, Beppe Finessi and Enrico Fagone.

The exhibition will follow the career of Pio Manzù, the internationally renowned designer, at the same time as the solo exhibition is held dedicated to his father, the sculptor Giacomo Manzù.
The Pio Manzù archive, currently held at GAMeC, permits a full examination of Manzù’s creative work to be made, which, in its short life, spanned design, photography and graphics. The exhibition will be arranged thematically in the four rooms on the second floor at GAMeC, and relate his work to that of other international designers and artists.
The first room will display Manzù’s early work while he was studying at Ulm, and will exhibit his designs, notes, sketches and theories in relation to his work for lecturers and professors Max Bill and Tomas Maldonado, colleagues Giovanni Anceschi and Mavigner, and artists and designers Getulio Alviani, Enzo Mari, Gruppo T (Giovanni Ancheschi, Davide Boriani, Gabriele De Vecchi, Grazia Varisco) and Gruppo N (Alberto Biasi, Edoardo Landi, Manfredo Massironi, Ennio Chiggio, Toni Cosata)
The second and third rooms will be devoted to the central plank of Manzù’s work – the car designs that brought him international prizes and honours. Drawings, designs, photographs and models will be displayed relating to the Fiat 127 and tractors, and the projects for Autonova vehicles, taxis and buses, many of which were produced and met with commercial success. All his vehicles were pioneers in one way or another, and the invention of the enclosed cockpit for a tractor – which had until then always left the driver open to the elements – immediately reduced driver deaths by 30% by protecting him if the tractor overturned.
The fourth room will host original objects, prototypes, designs and designer products of household items that have become classics in our homes.

The catalogue, published by Electa Milano, includes contributions by Giacinto Di Pietrantonio, Enrico Fagone, Beppe Finessi and Mario Cresci. Text and images are dedicated to the conception and development of a wide selection of Pio Manzù’s projects.