Licio Isolani Study Archive

The artist’s intention was to bridge technology and art. We hope to reveal an artistic imagination at work on the theoretical, philosophical, and technical levels.

Sirovich Family Graduate Fellow – Miriam Clayton

STEAMplant Faculty Members – Cindie Kehlet and Lisa A. Banner

STEAMplant Professional Collaborator – Sarah Nunberg

Italian artist and former Pratt Professor Licio Isolani (1931–2015) donated a collection of his work to the Department of Mathematics and Science before he passed away in 2015. The Licio Isolani Study Archive at Pratt Institute was founded by Chair of the Math and Science Department Dr. Carole Sirovich and faculty member Dr. Cindie Kehlet, along with Dr. Lisa A. Banner, of the History of Art & Design Department, and Pratt’s Stockman Fellow Conservator Sarah Nunberg. Graduate student Miriam Clayton served as the project’s Student Fellow. Clayton researched Licio Isolani’s career as an artist, and also assisted in organizing the collection and preparing condition reports, which are concise summaries of the overall physical condition of the works of art, including but not limited to their material descriptions and attributes, and an accounts of any repairs or treatments that are known. X-ray fluorescence analysis was performed on the sculptures, demonstrating that Isolani primarily used dyes, rather than pigments in his fiberglass polyester resin sculptures. Further analysis using Raman spectroscopy is planned to gain insight about Isolani’s choice of dyes.

In 2017, team member Lisa Banner organized “Frammenti,” an exhibition at the Italian Embassy including the works of contemporary artists Kikki Ghezzi and Riccardo Vecchio, and a piece from the Licio Isolani collection. Licio Isolani’s piece has been on exhibition loan to the Embassy since October 2017.