During his long career Pietro Consagra (Mazara del Vallo, Sicily, 1920 - Milan, 2005) touched upon all the different aspects of artistic creativity. While he produced the sculptures for which he is internationally acclaimed, he also painted and drew, exploring new media and techniques, wrote poetry and essays, designed buildings and large-scale urban installation, along with tiny pieces of jewelry. From 1948 onward he began to express in his sculptural works a "frontal vision" and unique viewing angle; this intention was endorsed by the Colloqui series, which secured his recognition at international level. In 1960 he was awarded the Sculpture Prize at the Venice Biennale. A retrospective of Consagra's work was staged at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome in 1989, and two years later he became the first sculptor to show abstract work in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg. In 1980, he wrote an autobiography in Italian called Vita Mia or "My Life". He published a book of poetry in 1985 called Ci Penso Amo (ISBN L20000). He also wrote a book on city planning.