Enrico Castellani

Enrico Castellani (Aug 4, 1930), one of Italy's most influential artists, is an Italian painter associated with the zero movement and Azimuth Castellani contributed the development of avant-garde art in Europe in the 1950s and 1960s Castellani was born in Castelmassa located in North-Eastern Italy He studied sculpture and painting at Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in 1952 and architecture at École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Belgium He is best known for his "paintings of light" that merge art, space and architecture to transcend the confines of painting In 1956 Castellani returned to Italy and met artists like Lucio Fontana and Piero Manzoni who were pushing Italian avant-garde art

His original approach is considered fundamental for the art history of the 20th century, not only in Italy, but also on the international scene; In particular, Castellani influenced Donald Judd, who saw him as the father of minimalism

Castellani has exhibited at the most renowned institutions in the world including the MoMA and the Solomon R

Born in the province of Rovigo, he studied art, sculpture and architecture in Belgium until 1956, when he graduated from the École Nationale Superieure The following year he returned to Italy, settling in Milan, where he became active exponent of the new artistic scene

In particular, he deals with relationships of friendship and collaboration with Piero Manzoni, with whom he forms an artistic association that intrigued the commentators of the era for the contrast between their personalities: much volcanic, scapigliato and playful Manzoni as Castellani was serious, distinguished and thoughtful

After his first informal experiences, inspired by American painting and especially by Mark Tobey, recognizing this art as ripe for overcoming, he worked with the Azimuth magazine, which he founded with Manzoni, a new beginning, which proposes The total resetting of the previous artistic experience, based on a new covenant with social progress

This reset is made by Manzoni, Castellani and Bonalumi with the use of monochrome (often wholly white) canvas extruded with various techniques to create effects of changing lights and shadows with the inclination of the light source It was an entirely original experience and considered of fundamental importance in the history of abstract art of the twentieth century, not only with regard to the Italian scene, but above all to the international one, whose echo influenced and inspired Donald Judd in an article Of 1966 called Castellani father of minimalism

If Piero Manzoni chose Kaolin and Cotton for his famous "Achromes" as a favorite material, Castellani starts a rigorous journey of study and analysis of the possibilities offered by the extrusion of the canvas by using nails and cents inserted behind the canvas

It was in 1959 that Castellani realized his first prominent surface, giving rise to poetry that would be his constant and rigorous stylistic figure and defining what criticism called "different repetition", considered by many critics of extreme purity, where Accurately selecting repetitions of the full and the voids given by the rhythmic extrusion of the canvas is an ever new, though coherent and intense path Since then its work continues to develop in the field of extroflection, but in its compact and coherent production there are some works that are distinctly distinct from the relief surfaces, revealing a lot about dear themes in Castellani such as time, rhythm and space

Even in the rare works on paper Castellani has managed to realize his own personal style of rhythmic estrophysics

In 1967 he made "Ambiente bianco" for the exhibition "The space of the image" at Palazzo Trinci, in Foligno; In 1968, on the occasion of "The Theater of Exhibitions", at the La Tartaruga gallery in Rome, is presented "The Wall of Time"; In 1969 he produced "Spartito" and in 1970 "Obelisk" From its inception to date, a series of important exhibitions in public and private spaces follow

He participates in the Venice Biennale in 1964, in 1966 (with a personal room), in 1984 and 2003 In 1965, he participated in the collective "The Responsive Eye" at MoMA in New York and at the VIII Biennale of St Paul in Brazil In 1970 he participated in the collective "Vitality of the Negative in Italian Art" by Achille Bonito Oliva at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni di Roma In 1981, he participated in "Identité Italien, art en Italie depuis 1959" by Germano Celant at the Pompidou Center in Paris

In 1983 he was at the Royal Palace in Milan for the exhibition "Programmata Arte e cinetica 1953-63"; In 1994 he was invited to the exhibition "The Italian metamorhosis" at the Salomon R Guggenheim Museum in New York

Among the most recent exhibitions are the personalities in the Milan Lia Rumma Gallery in 1999 and those in the Fumagalli Galleria in Bergamo in 1997 and 2001 In 2001 he is invited to the "Materia / Niente" group, curated by Luca Massimo Barbero, Fondazione Bevilacqua The Mass of Venice and "Italian Belvedere - Trends in Contemporary Art 1945/2001", curated by Achille Bonito Oliva, at the Center for Contemporary Art in Warsaw An important aesthetic exhibition curated by Germano Celant was set up at the Prada Foundation in Milan in 2001 and at Kettle's Yard in Cambridge in 2002, when he also presented his work at the Franca Mancini Gallery in Pesaro and Greta Meert in Brussels

If Piero Manzoni chose Kaolin and Cotton for his famous "Achromes" as a favorite material, Castellani starts a rigorous journey of study and analysis of the possibilities offered by the extrusion of the canvas by using nails and cents inserted behind the canvas

It was in 1959 that Castellani realized his first prominent surface, giving rise to poetry that would be his constant and rigorous stylistic figure and defining what criticism called "different repetition", considered by many critics of extreme purity, where Accurately selecting repetitions of the full and the voids given by the rhythmic extrusion of the canvas is an ever new, though coherent and intense path Since then its work continues to develop in the field of extroflection, but in its compact and coherent production there are some works that are distinctly distinct from the relief surfaces, revealing a lot about dear themes in Castellani such as time, rhythm and space

Even in the rare works on paper Castellani has managed to realize his own personal style of rhythmic estrophysics

In 1967 he made "Ambiente bianco" for the exhibition "The space of the image" at Palazzo Trinci, in Foligno; In 1968, on the occasion of "The Theater of Exhibitions", at the La Tartaruga gallery in Rome, is presented "The Wall of Time"; In 1969 he produced "Spartito" and in 1970 "Obelisk" From its inception to date, a series of important exhibitions in public and private spaces follow

He participates in the Venice Biennale in 1964, in 1966 (with a personal room), in 1984 and 2003 In 1965, he participated in the collective "The Responsive Eye" at MoMA in New York and at the VIII Biennale of St Paul in Brazil In 1970 he participated in the collective "Vitality of the Negative in Italian Art" by Achille Bonito Oliva at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni di Roma In 1981, he participated in "Identité Italien, art en Italie depuis 1959" by Germano Celant at the Pompidou Center in Paris

In 1983 he was at the Royal Palace in Milan for the exhibition "Programmata Arte e cinetica 1953-63"; In 1994 he was invited to the exhibition "The Italian metamorhosis" at the Salomon R Guggenheim Museum in New York

Among the most recent exhibitions are the personalities in the Milan Lia Rumma Gallery in 1999 and those in the Fumagalli Galleria in Bergamo in 1997 and 2001 In 2001 he is invited to the "Materia / Niente" group, curated by Luca Massimo Barbero, Fondazione Bevilacqua The Mass of Venice and "Italian Belvedere - Trends in Contemporary Art 1945/2001", curated by Achille Bonito Oliva, at the Center for Contemporary Art in Warsaw An important aesthetic exhibition curated by Germano Celant was set up at the Prada Foundation in Milan in 2001 and at Kettle's Yard in Cambridge in 2002, when he also presented his work at the Franca Mancini Gallery in Pesaro and Greta Meert in Brussels

In 2004 she exhibited in Paris at the Galerie of Meo and in 2005 at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, in Moscow, her exhibition was organized by Bruno Corà In 2006 he exhibited at the Galleria Lia Rumma in Naples and at the Auditorium in Rome In 2009, a series of recent works brought to a large core of historical works are proposed by Haunch of Venison in New York at an exhibition curated by Adachiara Zevi, while Castellani's works are displayed in dialogue with those in London at the same gallery Dan Flavin, Donald Judd and Günther Uecker On October 13, 2010, Enrico Castellani receives Prince Honit Hitachi, Honorary Patron of the Japan Art Association, Imperial Praemium for Painting, the highest international art award In 2012, Castellani participates with seven other artists (Getulio Alviani, Pablo Atchugarry, Fernando Botero, Piero Guccione, Marcello Lo Giudice and Thomas Ruff) in the project "Save the Mediterranean Sea" in collaboration with Christie's London and Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation , In favor of the salvation of our seas

Castellani's works in the art market are among the most sought-after and costly ones in the early twentieth century, with quotations that have largely exceeded the million dollars and are regularly traded in the most prestigious auctions such as the famous "Italian Sales" of London

Exhibitions:
1999
Galleria Lia Rumma, Milan
Civic Gallery of Contemporary Art, Trento

2001
Prada Foundation, Milan

2002
Kettle's Yard University of Cambridge, Cambridge (GB)
Galerie Meert Rihoux, Brussels (B)

2004
Galerie Di Meo, Paris (F)

2005
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow (R)

2006
Müzeum Milano Dobesa, Bratislava (SLK)
Galleria Lia Rumma, Naples
Space Risonanze, Auditorium Parco della Musica, Rome

2009
Haunch of Venison, New York (NY, USA)

2010
Seomi Gallery, Seoul (K)

2011
Haunch of Venison, New York (NY, USA)

2012
Günther Uecker / Enrico Castellani - Ca 'Pesaro, National Gallery of Modern Art, Venice

2013
Galería Cayón, Madrid (ES)
Günther Uecker / Enrico Castellani, Museum of Modern Art de Saint-Étienne, Métropole (FR)
Gallery Massimo De Carlo, London (UK)

2014
Local History: Castellani, Judd, Stella, Dominique Lévy Gallery, New York (NY, USA) and London (UK)

2015
Enrico Castellani and Lee Ufan, Lorenzelli Arte, Milan

2016
Dominique Lévy Gallery, London (UK) and New York (NY, USA)
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