Giuseppe Uncini (Fabriano, 1929 – Trevi, Perugia, 2008) is one of the most original figures in postwar Italian sculpture. Moving to Rome in 1953, he came into contact with Alberto Burri, Afro and Capogrossi, and began a practice distinguished from the outset by its treatment of material as language in itself.
In 1958 he made the first Cementoarmato — a slab of raw concrete reinforced with metal mesh and iron rods that reveals its own load-bearing structure — launching one of the most rigorous and coherent cycles in Italian art of the period. Over the following decades his research unfolded in distinct series: Terre, Ferrocementi, Strutturespazio, Mattoni, Ombre, Dimore, Spazicemento — each an exploration of the relationship between matter, space and construction. In 1962 he co-founded Gruppo Uno with Biggi, Carrino, Frascà, Pace and Santoro. He participated in the Venice Biennale in 1966 and again in 1984 with a dedicated room. His final work, Epistylium (2007–2009), a reinforced concrete sculpture over six metres tall, was created for the MART in Rovereto. His works are held at the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna in Rome, the MART in Rovereto and the museum in Foligno.
