11.11.11 | 20.02.12

Mappamondo 1966 - 1968 Zig Zag 1966 Mancorrente a squadra 1966 Nozzles 1966 METALLOID-PINK POLE I 1966 Untitled 1967 Tenda di lampadine 1967 Untitled ["(lasciare il posto)"] 1967 - 1970 Direction 1967 - 1968 METALLOID BROWN LOOKING-GLASS OBJECT 1967 - 1968 Untitled 1968 21 ottobre 1968 1968 L'Italia rovesciata 1968 Monumento di stracci 1968 - 2011 Sit in 1968 ["Baco da setola"] 1968 ["Scarpette"] 1968 Saffo 1968 ["Il fuoco è passato"] 1968 Untitled ["pali rosa"] 1969 ["Elegia"] 1969 ["Rovesciare i propri occhi"] 1970 ["Soffio di creta"] 1978

Gilberto Zorio

Untitled

1968

Courtesy :

The aim of “Arte Povera” was to immerse the works in the flux of the present, subjecting them to the forces of nature in the same way as other existing objects. Zorio achieved this aim to perfection: his works are never finished, they change even if he does not touch them again. They are living works, which express the energy of matter and display its effects. In his early works he focussed his attention on the chemical reactions he provoked in the different elements – solidification, evaporation and changes of colour took place after the works had been put on show to the public. The spectator watched the happenings created by the elements. Futurism had set the principle of movement as the basis of its poetry, but had always depicted it in a static way.
Zorio succeeded in presenting it directly: transformation is not merely the subject of the work, but the work itself, in its entirety. The contrasting use side by side of different materials creates strong tension: industrial materials are combined with natural substances such as wood, leather and even the artist’s own body. The most interesting aspect of this is the independent significance of each of the pieces, which in the compositions are liable to undergo a semantic change. In many cases these are ready-made pieces which are re-arranged in a way close to how the artist imagines them. Untitled of 1968 is in fact the combination of a copper pipe and a paint-stained cloth: the final image is based on the tension betweeen the two elements. The laws of physics are overturned: the more fragile material is underneath, while the more solid one is on the top. Zorio seems to be stating that science is not always able to determine exactly the dynamics of reality – there is a fundamental factor at play here, namely, “chance” and imagination.

Andorno Micca (Biella) 1944
Born at Andorno Micca, in the province of Vercelli, on 21 September 1944. He studied at the Accademia Albertiana in Turin (1963-70), where he formed friendships with ...
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