A Retrospective of Pablo Atchugarry’s Sculptural Practice
Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome
03 June 2026
Ten years after his last major exhibition in Rome and five years after his celebrated presentation at Milan’s Palazzo Reale, the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea welcomes Pablo Atchugarry with ‘Scolpire la Luce’, a retrospective on view from 19 May to 21 June, tracing more than three decades of the artist’s sculptural practice. Curated by Gabriele Simongini, the exhibition brings together around fifty works in marble, bronze, steel, alabaster and wood, revealing the breadth of an oeuvre rooted equally in technical mastery and spiritual enquiry.
Born in Montevideo and based in Italy since the late 1970s, Pablo Atchugarry is internationally recognised for his ability to transform Carrara marble into forms of remarkable lightness and dynamism. Working directly by hand according to the traditional sculptural principle of per forza di levare—carving by subtraction—Atchugarry approaches sculpture as both a physical and contemplative act. His vertically unfolding forms, shaped by deep rhythmic fissures and flowing pleats, seem to dissolve the density of stone, generating surfaces animated by light and shadow.
Throughout the exhibition, sculpture becomes a meditation on elevation, movement and inner transformation. Atchugarry’s works evoke abstracted echoes of trees, flames, drapery and architecture, inviting viewers into a space of contemplation and renewal. Alongside the celebrated marble sculptures, the exhibition includes works carved from ancient olive trunks, enamelled bronze and monumental steel installations, each material opening new expressive possibilities while maintaining the same aspiration towards luminosity and transcendence.
The dialogue between Atchugarry’s sculptures and the museum’s permanent collection forms a central element of the project. Four works have been installed among masterpieces by Jean Arp, Lucio Fontana, Alberto Giacometti and Henry Moore, establishing resonant connections across generations of modern sculpture. Created especially for the occasion, Splendore (2026), a monumental Carrara marble work, has also been donated by the artist to the museum’s permanent collection, reinforcing the enduring relationship between Atchugarry’s practice and the history of sculptural modernism.
