Luna (1968)

With Luna [Moon], presented in 1968 at the Galleria La Tartaruga as part of the “Teatro delle Mostre” (a cycle of exhibitions conceived by Plinio de Martiis), Mauri recreates a moonscape, anticipating of six months the landing of the Apollo 11.
Two layers of polystyrene placed underneath a multitude of white beads make the floor soft, and the visitors have the feeling of walking on a thick layer of compressed material.
The moonscape is accessed through a hatch, and visitors can move, lie down, sit or swim in this sea of polystyrene.
Light, reflected on the white surface, creates a new, cosmic atmosphere. 
Children, some of which grew up to become museum directors, used to beg their mums to go to the gallery and play inside the Moon.

Exhibition dates and venues

1968 – Teatro delle Mostre [The theatre of Exhibitions], Galleria la Tartaruga, Rome, curated by Plinio de Martiis
1970 – Vitalità del negativo [Vitality of the negative], Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, curated by Achille Bonito Oliva
1990 – Roma anni ’60 – Al di là della pittura  [Rome in the ‘60s - Beyond painting], Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, curated by Maurizio Calvesi
1994 – Fabio Mauri. Opere e Azioni 1954-1994 [Works and Actions 1954 - 1994], retrospective, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome, curated by Carolyn Christov Bakargiev, supervised by Augusta Monferini
2008 – 1988: vent’anni prima, vent’anni dopo  [1988: 20 years before, 20 years later], Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato,curated by Marco Bazzini
2010 – Luna 1968 [Moon 1968], Museo Pecci, Milan, curated by Marco Bazzini

2013 – Artisti nello spazio- Da Lucio Fontana a oggi: gli ambienti nell’arte italiana [Artists in outer space - From Lucio Fontana to nowadays: the spaces of Italian art] , Complesso Monumentale del San Giovanni Catanzaro, curated by Marco Meneguzzo, Bruno Di Marino and Andrea La Porta

2014 – TRA/BETWEEN arte e architettura. Roma Interrotta | Piero Sartogo e gli artisti [TRA/BETWEEN art and architecture. Rome interrupted | Piero Sartogo and the artists], MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome, curated by Achille Bonito Oliva

2015 – Fabio Mauri I WAS NOT NEW, Galleria Hauser & Wirth, New York, curated by Olivier Renaud-Clément 

2016 – Fabio Mauri Retrospettiva a luce solida, Museo MADRE, Naples, curated by Laura Cherubini and Andrea Viliani

2017 – Dalla caverna alla luna - Viaggio dentro la collezione del Centro Pecci, Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea  Luigi Pecci, Prato, curated by Stefano Pezzato

– Frieze, Galleria Hauser & Wirth, New York

2021 – A.B.O. Theatron: L'arte o la vita, Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev and Andrea Viliani