Mientras tanto, en la vida de Fontana, Lucio
La vida entera1946
The White Manifesto in Buenos Aires
Fontana makes public the White Manifesto: matter, colour and sound in motion, developing simultaneously, make up the new art; he did not sign the text but actively contributed to it, and here he began to formulate the theories he was to expand as Spatialism in five manifestos from 1947 to 1952.
1946
Founds the Altamira academy
In Buenos Aires Fontana founds the Altamira academy together with some of his students.
1947
Backs the first manifesto of Spatialism
Upon his return from Argentina Fontana supports, along with writers and philosophers, the first manifesto of Spatialism (Spazialismo); five such manifestos will appear by 1952.
1947
Returns to Italy from Argentina
Fontana returns to Italy in 1947 (by other accounts, in 1948); his Milan studio and works have been completely destroyed in the Allied bombings, but he soon resumes his ceramics work in Albisola, and in Milan he collaborates with noted architects to decorate several new buildings that are part of the postwar reconstruction of the city.
1949
The first “Spatial Environment” at the Galleria del Naviglio
At the Galleria del Naviglio in Milan Fontana shows his first “Ambiente spaziale a luce nera” (“Spatial environment”), a temporary installation consisting of a giant amoeba-like shape suspended in the void of a darkened room and lit by neon light.
