Work | Exhibits | Installations
Please note that the information presented on this site represents an overview of the artistic and creative activities of Guido Dettoni and does not cover all of his projects and experiences.
As a testimony to contemporary sacred art, an 80-cm-high enlargement of the sculpture MARIA, carved in Santa Tecla marble, was on display from 22 November to 21 December in the exhibition “From Maternity to Nativity, 800 years since the first crib” at the Tarragona Diocesan Museum.
MARIA OMNIA PLENA EXHIBITIONS
At the Museo Diocesano e Cripta di San Rufino di Assisi from July 23 to August 30 (Italy), and at the Biennal of Contemporary Sacred Art – BACS from 1 to 31 October, 2023, in Menton (France).
BLACK MARIA INSTALLATION
Placed at the entrance porch of the church Santa Joana Princesa in Lisbon (Portugal) of a 80 cm high enlargement of the sculpture MARIA carved in black Calatorao marble, supported by a 1 m high column of Andalusian creame marble.
TRANSMUTATIONS
CHIMERA – Through a collective HANDSMATTER experience held in La Selva, Tortona (Italy).
HANDSMATTER
Conducted several workshops focusing on this creative process.
MARIA OMNIA PLENA | MARIA ASCENDIT
Achievement of the new transvisual versions of MARIA, 3D printed from 10 inches height upntn10 ft or more.
WRITINGS
The Hands See: Detton’s article at Revista RE (ISSN 1135-2701
TRANSMUTATIONS
FRATERNITY – Through a collective HANDSMATTER experience held in Can Pinal, Els Hostalets de Pierola, Barcelona.
HANDSMATTER
Conducted several workshops focusing on this creative process.
AQUARIUM
Installed the Eagles AQUARIUM at Can Sabater in Bellpuig d’Urgell, Lleida, Spain, as part of the Bartolomé-Regué’s Family estate.
MARIA
Installed one white resin 33 cm enlargement in the confessional room of the Jesuit University Church, Innsbruck, known as Jesuitenkirche.
TACTILIA
Resuming this creative process which began more than two decades ago, created again surfaces engraved with prints and grooves that offer tactile and visual experiences. Some of these works are temporarily exhibited at Espai de Lliure Creació Carme Malaret in San Just Desvern, Barcelona.
TAU and MARIA
Installed the sculptures TAU and MARIA at the new Prayer Space within the Franciscan Convent of Bonlanden.
HANDSMATTER
Conducted a workshop at the Franciscan Convent of Bonlanden on the theme “To be part of the Whole,” involving all the Convent employees and Sisters.
TAU and MARIA
In process of being carved, the enlargements of TAU and MARIA from Linden-wood and Verona red marble respectively, are planned for their installation in the Praying Chapel at Faustin-Mennel House of the Bonlanden Franciscan Convent in 2021.
TWENTY-TWENTY
Dedicated the year to introspection, focusing on silence, blindness, and tactile exploration of invisible realities.
CRUCIFIX
Created the handheld sculpture.
WEARABLE ICONS
Developed a collection of wearable iconic sculptures, including Maria, Tau, Crucifix, and Bethlehem Cross.
EAGLES
At Can Pinal’s Estate, Els Hostalets de Pierola, Barcelona, installed the two outdoor fiber-glass enlargements of the original sculptures, one mirror of the other.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Illustrations contribution to the book of poems titled “NAUFRAGIS” by Carles Duarte i Montserrat.
PAU
PAU ESCOLTA (PAU listens). Presented the performance based on the sound proposal of the composer Àlex Martínez, featuring the PAU sculpture at Els Hostalets de Pierola, Barcelona.
PUBLICATIONS
Featured in the book PRESÈNCIES DE CULTURA CATALANA A ROMA (Presences of Catalan Culture in Rome) by Josep Maria Benítez Riera sj.
PAU
Created an outdoors monumental sculpture known as PAU, following his own interpretation of the twelve-million-year-old fossil from the Miocene’s Montserrat area. Placed in the public park in Els Hostalets de Pierola, Barcelona.
HANDSMATTER
RECONCILIATION – Led a collective art experience centered around reconciliation at Museo Casa de la Memoria in Medellín, Colombia.
MARIA – Exhibits | Installations
Permanently installed in various locations including the Museo Diocesano e Cripta di San Rufino in Assisi, the Polyclinic in Lampedusa, the Meyer Children Hospital in Firenze, and Santa Maria delle Grazie in Tufo, Carsoli.
TO TURN THE OTHER CHEEK
Created this handheld sculpture which was featured in the book “L’ull de la violència” (The eye of violence). l
FLYING BODY
He made this sculpture for the American Italian Association of Educators (AIAE) in New York, USA, for the award-winning members of the year.
HANDSMATTER
Initiated the PEACE NETWORK including the gatherings in Assisi, Prague, Mäntyharju, and New York.
AWARD
Honored with the XXIX Premi Josep M. Batista i Roca for spreading Catalan culture and language.
ENGRAVING and VIDEO
On the occasion of the “Taller de Gravat de la Fundació Hervás Amezcua” in Gavà, Barcelona, engaged in print and video projects related to the comic opera “Giravolt de Maig“.
MARIA STELE
At the Basilica dos Martires in Lisbon, presented for the first time the Stele, which provides a tactile and visual experience of MARIA concentrated in one element only, a stele.
MARIA – Exhibits | Installations
Featured permanent installations at places including the Sant Gervasi Obituary in Barcelona, and the Real Monasterio de Santa Isabel in Barcelona.
TRANSMUTATIONS
PARAULA-FORMA (word-shape) – Carries out with the poet Carles Duarte this performance, at the Fundación Carulla in Esplugues de Francolí, Catalonia.
HANDSMATTER
Peace gathering in Mäntyharju, Finland.
MARIA ALPHA-OMEGA
Permanently installed at the Choir of the church of Our Lady of the Snow in Prague.
HANDSMATTER
Conducted several experiences: TOUCHING TENDERNESS AND PEACE, during “The days of Faith” in Prague, SHAPES OF SILENCE at Earthship Isla Verde in Els Hostalets de Pierola, Barcelona, and MARIA MADRE at Colegio Pureza de Maria in San Cugat, Barcelona.
TRANSMUTATIONS
Initiated the PEACE GATE project with the first experimental Gathering held in Assisi to manifest Peace, and to achieve the video demo of the virtual construction of a Peace Gate.
RESURRECTION and MARIA
At Saint Ignatius Church in Singapore, installed permanently, marble enlargements of the statues RESURRECTION and MARIA. The latter was presented and blessed by the Archbishop of Barcelona, Cardinal Luis Martinez Sistach at the Catalan Faculty of Theology prior to being shipped to Singapore.
Completed CHRISTIAN PATH from a Handsmatter workshop with the parishioners of St Ignatius Church in Singapore.
FACE OF CHRIST
Permanent installation at the MARIA exhibition in Assisi.
HANDSMATTER | SOUND & TOUCH
Performing in Barcelona the dialogue between the SHAKUHACHI flute played by Miura Taro and the modeling of a shape by Guido Dettoni.
Explored the practice of HANDSMATTER related to deafblindness through workshops and seminars at CDBA (Canadian Deafblind Association), in Paris, Ontario, and through a performance at the European Conference on Deafblindness at CAIXA FÓRUM in Barcellona.
HANDSMATTER
Conducted several workshops in Italy.
HANDSMATTER DEAFBLINDNESS
Organized collective Experiences and workshops based on this process at the International Symposium by TSVBI (Texas School for Blind and Visually Impaired) in Austin, Texas.
KU
Achieved the sculpture of a spoon, named KU, along with a video animation that reveals its creative process.
MARIA ASSISI
Designed and directed the new staging of the exhibition MARIA at Santa Maria delle Rose in Assisi.
TAU
Installed its two meters high enlargement carved in linden wood at the permanent MARIA Exhibition at Santa Maria delle Rose in Assisi.
CHALICE AND PATEN
Created these wooden artworks for the first Eucharistic celebration of the priest Mattia Magoni in Trescore Balneario, Bergamo, Italy.
HANDSMATTER
Conducted several workshops in Italy.
HANDSMATTER
Conducted several workshops in Italy.
MARIA ALPHA-OMEGA
At the Osnabrück’s Cathedral in German.
MATER TERRA
Crafted the enlargement, cast in concrete, of the handheld sculpture representing Mother Earth, at the Earthship ISLA VERDE, Els Hostalets de Pierola, Barcelona.
DEAFBLIND SHAPE
Creation of the handheld sculpture, symbolizing Deafblindness.
HANDSMATTER DEAFBLINDNESS
Engaged in workshops and seminars with Deafblind people of the Deafblind Catalan Association in Barcelona.
MATER AQUA
Created this handheld sculpture for the MATER TRILOGY: Mater Terra, Aqua, and Lactea.
MATER LACTEA
Creation of this handheld sculpture through the collective Handsmatter experience with breastfeeding mothers at thirteen workshops all over Catalonia.
FACE OF CHRIST
Permanent installation at the Shrine of Pontmain, France.
NOTRE-DAME DE PONTMAIN
Achieved a digital representation of Our Lady, including an animated video and a booklet describing her apparition.
MARIA – Exhibits | Installations
At Universidade Católica in Lisbon.
FACE OF CHRIST
At the Basilica of Notre-Dame du Folgoët in Bretagne, France, for a year.
MARIA – Exhibits | Installations
At Basílica da Estrela in Lisbon.
BETHLEHEM CROSS
At Basílica Nossa Senhora dos Mártires in Lisbon.
EAGLES
Installation of two fiberglass overlapped enlargements of the same sculpture at the Scholastic Institute IES Bendinat in Calvià, Majorca.
QUIXOTESANCHO
Create the rotating sculpture, after the Handsmatter experience of the previous year in Argamasilla de Alba.
TRANSMUTATIONS
From specific Handsmatter gatherings, completed ROSEMARY’S FLOWER, at the IES Bendinat, Calvià, Majorca; HERZ JESU, at the Herz Jesu Parrish in Herne, Germany; SANT FELIX VIRTUAL, at the summer youth camps in Vilafranca del Penedès.
MARIA – Exhibits | Installation
At Egreja de Santa Isabel in Lisbon.
TAU
Installed for a month-long at Upper Basilica of Saint Francis, Assisi, the two meters high enlargement carved in linden-wood of the original handheld sculpture. Its presence was requested for the première of the concert “Embracing the Tau”, composed by Giuseppe Magrino, ofm.
BETHLEHEM CROSS
Installed during the Easter Triduum at the Cova de Sant Ignasi de Loyola in Manresa.
SANT FÈLIX – DIGGING ACTION
Digging into the soil in Vilafranca del Penedés to find and sculpt Fèlix, the Man, then cast in bronze.
Presentation in Vilafranca followed by the one at the Spanish Embassy at the Holy Sit in Rome, and at the Université Catholique in Paris.
JUPITER
Crafted in concrete the enlargements of the handheld mirrored sculpture. Installed a column of 8 elements and 8 benches at Platja de Sabinosa, Tarragona.
TRANSMUTATIONS
QUIXOTESANCHO and DULCINEA – Through HANDSMATTER gatherings in Argamasilla de Alba, La Mancha, Spain.
MARIA ALPHA-OMEGA
At the Gaudi’s Crypt in the Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, for one year.
MARIA – Exhibits | Installations
At the Church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris.
CONCERT FOR MARIA
Second Concert at the Lower Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi. Composer, Giuseppe Magrino ofm.
BETHLEHEM CROSS
At the church of Santo Tomás de Aquino in Barcelona.
TAU
Creation in Assisi of the original handheld sculpture in wax.
JUPITER
Crafted in concrete the enlargement of the handheld mirrored sculpture, along with an installation of one column of nine elements at Plaça de l’Esclat – Vilafranca del Penedès and ten benches for the Museum Es Baluard in Palma de Majorca.
MARIA ALPHA-OMEGA
At Heinrich Pesch Haus in Ludwigshafen, Germany.
BETHLEHEM CROSS
Installed for the first time at the Bethlehem’s Church in Barcelona.
MARIA – Exhibits | Installations
At Chiesetta di San Girolamo in Mezzago, Milano.
CONCERT FOR MARIA
First concert at San Rufino Cathedral of Assisi, composed by Giuseppe Magrino ofm, for the installation MARIA.
MATER TERRA
Crafted an enlargement of the handheld sculpture for the temporary exhibition at the 1st congress “To be born at home” in Manresa, Spain.
JUPITER
Installed the enlargement of the handheld mirrored sculpture at Thursday Foundation in Ballina, Byron Bay, Australia.
HANDS JOURNEY
Carry out this sculpture meant to be experienced tactilely and walked on, blindly. Unpublished work that is the benchmark for TACTILIA.
MARIA ASSISI
Commenced the permanent exhibition at the church of Santa Maria delle Rose.
MARIA – Exhibits | Installations
At San Martín Pinario in Santiago de Compostela.
EAGLES | OUTDOORS
At Square A. Jaume in Palma de Majorca, the installation of two stone overlapped enlargements, one mirroring the other.
EAGLES
Interactive exhibition at the church of Sant Antoniet in Palma de Majorca, for one year.
MARIA – Exhibits | Installations
At Evangelical Church Alte Nikolaikirche in Frankfurt am Main.
At Colegio La Purísima in Palma de Majorca, permanent installation of the outdoors marble enlargement.
FACE OF CHRIST
Permanent installation at the Church Sanctuary of Sant Miquel in Palma de Majorca.
HOLY YEAR
MARIA – Exhibits | Installations
At the Cultural Centre Fontana d’Or in Girona, Santa Maria delle Rose in Assisi, Duomo Cattedrale in Verona, Iglesia de San Juan de los Panetes in Zaragoza, and Iglesia Nacional Española in Rome.
FACE OF CHRIST
First presentation and public exhibition at Santa Maria in Montesanto in Rome.
MARIA – Exhibits | Installations
Presented for the first time to the world the multifaceted Icon MARIA at Pia Almoina (Diocesan Museum) of Barcelona.
TRANSMUTATIONS
Through a collective HANDSMATTER gathering, digitally depicted SAKPATA (the God of the earth) in Cotonou, Benin, West Africa.
HANDSMATTER
Conducted this creative collective process with deaf children and adults, as well as handicapped individuals, at the Purisima School for Deaf Children in Palma de Mallorca.
EAGLES
Installed two stone overlapped outdoor enlargements of the same EAGLES sculpture at Serra Art Foundation in Sóller, Majorca.
UNIVERSITY CONGRESS
Presented the Yada concept and work at the “Universidad de las Americas” in Puebla, Cholula, México.
MARIA
Created the first statue of the Icon MARIA in Barcelona with wax obtained in Cholula, Puebla, Mexico.
EARTH HEART
The sound of the sculpture Earth-Heart shaped with Majorcan soil is given by the acoustic experiment recording the sound of heartbeats during a mystical vision of a woman transmitted to a loudspeaker buried one meter underground. Musical arrangement by Joan Bibiloni.
BEGINNING HIS STAY IN MAJORCA
1993 to 1998. Casa Rotja, his first two paintings in Majorca.
SCHOOL OF THE EARTH
leading the project (Center for Training and Employment for disabled people, agriculture-oriented with the implementation of alternative energy) for the Foundation Teresa de Oliva of Majorca.
ARTESANS DEL PLA DE MALLORCA
Coordination of the research for, and the edition of a book -as part of a European project- on the craft traditions of Majorca.
At the School “La Purísima for deaf children” in Palma de Majorca experimented with his findings on the synergy between touch, the other senses, and the learning processes, demonstrating the possible integration of the HANDSMATTER methodology with pedagogy.
EXHIBITION THE HANDS SEE, THE EYES TOUCH
Held an exhibition titled THE HANDS SEE, THE EYES TOUCH, which featured some of his tactile sculptures jointly with paintings by Montse Galserra at the Castle of L’Hospitalet de l’Infant, Tarragona.
EXPOSITION YADA
With the Pseudonym HIDO, at the “Institut d’Estudis Ilerdencs” – Lleida, an exhibition brings together for the first time after 1970 some of his Tactile Sculptures and Paintings.
MATER TERRA
Created this handheld sculpture.
He entrusted the original of the “Notebook TWELVE” to the Siemens Foundation in Munich; the one who had bought several of his paintings during his stay in Munich from 1967 to 1969.
ART PRACTICE & WORK
Engaged in various art practices and works, including painting, sculpture, architecture, and design in locations such as Italy, West Africa, China, and Switzerland.
Founded Studio NUN for graphic and industrial design in Milan, Italy, with his brother Luca Dettoni.
Conducted Digging Actions into the soil during his two-year stay in Geneva, Switzerland.
Made several stays in Jerusalem, which influenced his work.
Approached the Hebrew language discovering the verb YADA which means to know in a concrete and tangible sense, emphasizing that the hands see and the eyes touch.
HANDSMATTER
In ‘72 he conceives, initiates and sinnd named this creative collective process. This process it is also the origin of his creations called TRANSMUTATIONS.
EXHIBITION at the Haus der Begegnung
Participated in showcasing his paintings in a joint exhibition with Ukrainian painter Ihor Kordiuk at the Haus der Begegnung in Munich, Germany.
PAINTINGS
EMBRYO and ROMAN POUGH, are to be considered as seeds of his pictorial expression.
He moved to Munich where he founded the “Musenberg 16” group with painter Ihor Kordiuk in 1968.
EXHIBITION
At the Terrassa Art Centre, Barcelona, he presented the painting FLYING MAN.
ART PRACTICE & WORK
At a suburban Art Workshop in Caracas, Venezuela.
FLYING MAN
Began this pictorial and conceptual process in Granada, Spain.
MIGRATION
From Milan, Italy, his birth city, to Westphalia in Germany, and then to Vienna in Austria prior to moving to Barcelona adding to his Italian roots those of Catalonia, thereby adding Catalan roots to his Italian heritage.