Enrico Castellani

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Enrico Castellani (born August 4, 1930 in Castelmassa , Rovigo , Italy ; † December 1, 2017 ) was an Italian painter and relief artist and a representative of conceptual art . He lived and worked in Celleno near Viterbo , Italy , since 1975 .

life and work

Enrico Castellani studied painting and sculpture at the art academy until 1956 , as well as architecture at the art school École de La Cambre , both in Brussels.

In 1957, Enrico Castellani returned to Italy. He moved to Milan, where he made artistic contacts with representatives of the then avant-garde in Italy, including Lucio Fontana , Piero Manzoni , Vincenzo Agnetti and Agostino Bonalumi . Castellani developed a close friendship with Piero Manzoni. He also got to know Yves Klein and exchanged ideas with the German artists from ZERO .

Enrico Castellani took part in the famous evening exhibitions in Düsseldorf in 1957 and 1958 , which were organized by Otto Piene , Heinz Mack and Günther Uecker . These exhibitions also received a lot of attention in Italy. In 1958 Enrico Castellani became a member of the artist group " Movimento Arte Nucleare ". This group also included Piero Manzoni, Lucio Fontana, Francis Picabia and Agostino Bonalumi.

Piero Manzoni and Enrico Castellani opened the Galleria Azimut in Milan in December 1959 (which lasted until July 1963) and published the first issue of their magazine Azimuth . One of the goals of Azimuth was to send the message that art is not meant to be copied. Each work should only refer to itself and present its own reality and authenticity. In 1959, Castellani creates his first Superficie Nera. These were works in which he worked on canvases with a nailing machine. He used it to create a relief-like structure on the surface of these monochrome - white pictures and thus created a strong light and shadow effect. Castellani continued to develop this technique in the 1970s and 1980s and began using other materials as well, for example aluminum .

Enrico Castellani took part in numerous exhibitions around the world. His works are part of the collections of important museums and galleries. In 1964, 1966 and 2003 he was invited to the Venice Biennale (in 1964 he exhibited in a room with Getulio Alviani ). In 1968 he participated in the 4th documenta in Kassel .

Literature and Sources

  • Exhibition catalog for the IV. Documenta: IV. Documenta. International exhibition ; Catalog: Volume 1: (Painting and Sculpture); Volume 2: (Graphics / Objects); Kassel 1968
  • Kimpel, Harald / Stengel, Karin: documenta IV 1968 International Exhibition - A Photographic Reconstruction (series of publications from the documenta archive); Bremen 2007, ISBN 978-3-86108-524-9

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Morto Enrico Castellani, avventuroso artista della geometria , corriere.it
personal data
SURNAME Castellani, Enrico
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian painter
DATE OF BIRTH 4th August 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Castelmassa , Rovigo , Italy
DATE OF DEATH 1st December 2017