Ugo Mulas

Ugo Mulas was born on August 28, 1928, in Pozzolengo, province of Brescia. He began his studies in law in 1948 in Milan, but left to take art courses at the Brera Fine Arts Academy.[http://www.ugomulas.org/index.cgi?action=view&idramo=1089468906&lang=eng Mulas' biography on his website]{{cite web| url =https://www.maestridellafotografia.it/fotografi/ugo-mulas/|title=Ugo Mulas|date=14 July 2020 | publisher =Maestri della Fotografia| access-date =2023-07-03}} Soon, he started shooting reports on life of Milan's suburbs. Upon joining the regulars at the legendary "Jamaica" bar, he became part of the art and fashion community. In 1954 he was asked to cover the Venice Biennale, his first professional assignment. He went on to photograph every Venice Biennale through 1972 and to document his work in an art book.{{cite web| url =https://www.universofoto.it/biografia-ugo-mulas-storia-della-fotografia/| title =Vita e opere di Ugo Mulas (1928 – 1973): Storia della fotografia| last =Pezzoli| first =Erika| date =25 November 2020| publisher =Universo Foto| access-date =2023-07-03}} Mulas worked for such Italian publications as Settimo Giorno, Rivista Pirelli, Domus, Vogue.{{cite web| url =https://www.arte.it/calendario-arte/venezia/mostra-ugo-mulas-l-operazione-fotografica-89833| title =Ugo Mulas. L'operazione fotografica| publisher =Arte.it| access-date =2023-07-03}}

Mulas also did commercial work for advertising campaigns including clients such as Pirelli and Olivetti.{{Cite web |title=1969. Olivetti formes et recherche, una mostra internazionale |trans-title=1969. Olivetti forms and research, an international exhibition |url=https://camera.to/en/mostre/1969-olivetti-formes-et-recherche-una-mostra-internazionale/ |access-date=2024-03-15 |website=camera.to}} In 1959 in Florence, he discovered Veruschka who later became a well-known model and artist. While covering the Spoleto Festival in 1962, he befriended sculptor Alexander Calder, who later became a major subject of Mulas' photography and writings.

While photographing the 1964 Venice Biennale, Mulas met several American artists, art critics, and the art dealer Leo Castelli. This meeting led to his travel to New York City and his documentation of the Pop art scene.{{cite web

| url =https://www.euronews.com/culture/2023/04/03/venice-opens-new-home-for-photography-with-ugo-mulas-show| title =Venice opens new 'home' for photography with Ugo Mulas show| last =Bennett| first =Catherine| date =2023-04-03| publisher =Euronews| access-date =2023-07-02}}{{Citation | last = Vetrocq | first = Marcia E. | title = Ugo Mulas: The New York Portraits - Leo Castelli Gallery, New York | journal = Art in America | date = February 2001 | url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_2_89/ai_70637312 | access-date = 2007-04-27 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060618153220/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_2_89/ai_70637312 | archive-date = 2006-06-18 }} This trip to New York and Mulas' resulting book and exhibits, New York, the New Art Scene became his best known work.{{cite web| url =https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/03/arts/art-in-review-ugo-mulas.html| title =ART IN REVIEW; Ugo Mulas| last =Glueck| first =Grace| date =2000-11-03| work =The New York Times| access-date =2023-07-02}} The exhibit included enlargements of Mulas' contact sheets and environmental portraits of Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Barnett Newman and Roy Lichtenstein.{{Citation | last = Vetrocq | first = Marcia E. | title = Ugo Mulas: The New York Portraits - Leo Castelli Gallery, New York | journal = Art in America | date = February 2001 | url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_2_89/ai_70637312 | access-date = 2007-04-27 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060618153220/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_2_89/ai_70637312 | archive-date = 2006-06-18 | url-status = dead }} In the 1960s, he also worked in graphic design and wrote art books.{{cite web| url =https://www.vanityfair.com/style/photos/2019/07/ugo-mulas-new-york-photos-matthew-marks| title =The Italian Photographer Who Went Behind the Scenes With Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns| last =Vanderhoof| first =Erin| date =2019-07-11| publisher =Vanity Fair| access-date =2023-07-03}}

In the late 1960s, Mulas became interested in theater and worked on many productions at Milan's Piccola Scala Theater and Teatro Comunale di Bologna.{{cite web| url =https://www.artuner.com/artists/ugo-mulas/| title =Ugo Mulas| date =4 July 2017| publisher =Artuner| access-date =2023-07-02}} His photography of that period was full of experiments, in the shootings of that time he "played" with the composition, plot, framing, looking for a new artistic language. Mulas was described by his contemporaries as a man who, through photography, tried to understand the depths of human souls.{{cite web| url =https://www.cini.it/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/00_Press-Kit_Le-Stanze-della-Fotografia_Venice_2023_ENG-1.pdf| title =Le Stanze della Fotografia [The Photography Rooms] The joint initiative by Marsilio Arte and Fondazione Giorgio Cini| publisher =CINI| access-date =2023-07-03}}

In 1970, Mulas started working on the series La Verifiche that turned out to be his last — he was diagnosed with cancer in the same year. In early 1973, Mulas released his last book La Photographie, where he collected and summed up all his ideas and thoughts on art and photography. Aged 45, Mulas died in Milan on March 2, 1973.{{cite web| url =https://www.henricartierbresson.org/en/expositions/ugo-mulas-2/| title =La Photographie January 15 - April 24, 2016| publisher =Gallery Henri Cartier Bresson| access-date =2023-07-02}}

The American indie rock band Spoon chose Mulas' 1963 portrait of American sculptor Lee Bontecou for their 2007 studio album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.[http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/news/42601-exclusive-spoon-reveal-iga-ga-ga-ga-gai-cover-art Pitchfork.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629115405/http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/news/42601-exclusive-spoon-reveal-iga-ga-ga-ga-gai-cover-art |date=2007-06-29 }}

• New York; the new art scene. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1967.
• David Smith in Italy. By David Smith and Mulas. Charta, 1997. {{ISBN|88-8158-024-1}}.
• Vent'anni di Biennale, 1954–1972. Mondadori, 1988. {{ISBN|88-04-31254-8}}.
• Calder. By Mulas and H. Harvard Arnason. Studio, 1971. {{ISBN|0-670-11219-4}}.
• Calder. By Mulas. Milan: Officina Libraria, 2008. {{ISBN|978-88-89854-21-1}}.

{{reflist}}

• Ugo Mulas. By Germano Celant. Federico Motta Editore, 1993. {{ISBN|88-7179-002-2}}.

• {{Official website|www.ugomulas.org}}

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Category:Portrait photographers

Category:Photographers from Milan

Category:1928 births

Category:1973 deaths

Category:Brera Academy alumni

Category:Olivetti people