The retouching in Maria Lai’s outdoor artworks: documenting Ulassai’s open-air museum

  • Rita Salis University of Pisa
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37558/gec.v18i1.818
Keywords: environmental art, site-specific, acrylic, colour reintegration, documentation

Abstract

From 1981 to 2009, Maria Lai created a series of site-specific outdoor artworks made of different materials (above all cement, then painted with acrylic colour) located in her hometown Ulassai (Sardinia), which became an open-air museum. This paper focuses on a project regarding each artwork, with the creation of a documentation record on their history and conservation issues. Over the years, retouching and repainting interventions were realized by the artist and local workers without any conservator-restorer being involved in the process. The paper also aims to provide a description of these interventions with a focus on three case-studies, exploring the challenges related to maintenance, particularly the ones involving retouching and repainting.

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Author Biography

Rita Salis, University of Pisa

Rita Salis is an art historian, her research focuses on contemporary art and its conservation, in particular about public and relational art. In 2018 she obtained a post-degree specialisation diploma with honours in Historic and Artistic Heritage at Pisa’s University, with a dissertation on Maria Lai. In 2012 she received her First level master in “Conservation and restoration of Contemporary Works of Art” (Opificio delle Pietre Dure - Florence). In 2009 she obtained a master’s degree with honours in Art History at the University of Pisa. Throughout the years Rita has worked with both public and private institutions. For the last two years she has been the recipient of a scholarship with the School of specialization in artistical and historical heritage of the university of Pisa. She is currently the course facilitator for the school and she is also responsible for the promotion and communication of the activities and events promoted by the institution.

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Published
2020-12-10
How to Cite
Salis, R. (2020). The retouching in Maria Lai’s outdoor artworks: documenting Ulassai’s open-air museum. Ge-Conservacion, 18, 200-206. https://doi.org/10.37558/gec.v18i1.818
Issue
Vol. 18 (2020): Ge-conservación Nº18
Section
Suplemento
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