1

Consecuente a las revoluciones artsticas que se propagaron por todo el mundo

a mediados de la dcada de los sesenta, un grupo de artistas del norte de Italia
revelaron un arquetipo de creacin cuya marca contina hoy vigorosa. Interesados
en la interseccin del arte, la vida, la cultura y la naturaleza, sus obras adoptaron
un rigor experimental, utilizando materiales nunca antes empleados, relacionando
de manera extraordinaria el espacio para su exhibicin, y desde luego,
confrontando las normas corrientes del rol del arte en la sociedad. El escrutinio de
esta actitud compartida por ese conjunto de individuos fue advertido por el crtico
y curador Germano Celant, quien acu el trmino arte povera para articularlo
tericamente e inscribirlo en la cultura del mundo moderno con regulares muestras,
tanto colectivas como individuales. Con ese nominativo apareci por primera vez
en el catlogo escrito para la exposicin Arte Povera y Spazio (Galera La Bertesca,
Gnova) en septiembre de 1967. Celant se inspir en uno de los conceptos teatrales
del dramaturgo polaco Jerzy Grotowsky, para describir un nuevo arte libre de la
mediacin e imposiciones de las construcciones lingsticas y culturales.
El maniesto de Celant Arte Povera: notas para una guerra de guerrillas (1967)
sita a un artista ideologizado y polticamente comprometido que rechaza a la
sociedad de consumo y a las nociones estticas que derivan de ella. Una persona
no enfocada a producir obras u objetos artsticos, sino dedicada a la libre
proyeccin de la actividad humana.
El arte, la vida y la poltica pobres, como la realidad, no hacen referencia, sino que se ofrecen
a s mismos, por medio de la auto-presentacin, como esencia.(...) Es una auto-proyeccin libre,
un atarse dentro del ritmo de la vida para poder agotar la experiencia en la accin, en el hecho
y en el pensamiento de una manera inmediata y contingente.
(Germano Celant. Arte povera. 1969)
2 3
Este movimiento traza una red sin restricciones, una situacin de laboratorio
carente de coerciones intelectuales, que favorece el profundo encuentro
sensible. Es un enunciado dispuesto en un escenario presente y solidario con los
acontecimientos ordinarios de la vida, que estimula al pensamiento diverso y
fomenta la concordancia y el compromiso con el entorno. Con esos parmetros,
los artistas del poverismo unican materia y smbolo. Abaten la separacin entre
naturaleza y cultura, fundiendo en un slo cuerpo elementos orgnicos (agua,
fuego, arena, piedras, ramas de rboles, animales, ceras, grasas, frutas, verduras)
con materiales manufacturados (vidrio, tela, erro, nen). Asimismo, instauran un
alfabeto para una potica de la experiencia real, concentrada en lo sensorial, lo
lrico y lo subjetivo.
El arte povera trascendi las fronteras italianas como un modelo recurrente, con
una presencia capital en el arte contemporneo. Adems de apuntar hacia el
reconocimiento de las inuencias formales y ecos ideolgicos que ese movimiento ha
inscrito en la esttica y en los procesos creativos de nuestro presente (especialmente
activos en la obra de artistas nacionales), la antologa Ergo, materia. Arte
povera, con la seleccin de estos doce artistas, se inserta en el anlisis que
el ciclo curatorial Hechos y delirios* ha desarrollado acerca del soporte, la
materia y el trabajo en el arte.
Semblanzas
Giovanni Anselmo
Borgofranco dIvrea, Piamonte, 1934
Vive y trabaja en Turn, Piamonte, Italia
El trabajo de Anselmo ha oscilado entre la pintura, la escultura, la fotografa y la
instalacin, donde ha hecho uso de una amplia gama de materiales orgnicos e
inorgnicos como vegetales, electricidad, agua, granito, plstico y metales. Su obra
se ha concentrado en la exploracin de las leyes elementales de la fsica y de la
naturaleza, como los campos magnticos, la energa, la tensin y la gravedad, as como
en la transformacin y la contraposicin de los materiales. A partir de 1969 se dedica a
desarrollar los conceptos de nitud/innitud, macrocosmos/microcosmos, invisibilidad
y la situacin del sujeto en el universo. Tambin se interesa por la sustitucin de la cosa
por la palabra, esta ltima creada a partir de proyecciones, con lo cual busca cambiar
las formas de percepcin de los espectadores.
Pier Paolo Calzolari
Bolonia, Emilia Romaa, 1934
Vive y trabaja en Fossombrone, Las Marcas, Italia
Una de las aportaciones de Pier Paolo Calzolari fue el haber ampliado la prctica
tradicional de la escultura al incluir materiales orgnicos como musgo, hojas de pltano,
cera y tabaco. Trabaja tambin con materiales maleables como el plomo y objetos de
uso comn como colchones. Algunas de sus obras incluyen elementos luminosos como
el nen, con el cual busca apuntar hacia lo sublime. Su obra abarca desde la pintura
hasta la escultura, el collage, la instalacin (en donde llegaba a incluir tanto a personas
como animales) y el performance. Se interesa sobre todo por los procesos de creacin
artstica, as como por las transformaciones alqumicas y el concepto de innito.
Jannis Kounellis
El Pireo, Grecia, 1936
Vive y trabaja en Roma, Lacio, Italia
Originario de Grecia, Kounellis lleg a la ciudad de Roma en 1956, en donde comenz
su actividad artstica tras ingresar a la Academia de Bellas Artes. En un inicio sus obras
fueron principalmente pinturas, sin embargo a partir de la dcada de los aos sesenta
comenz a incluir a la supercie plana ciertos elementos orgnicos e inorgnicos como
algodn, carbn, fuego, piedras, caf y plantas, con lo cual sus obras derivaron en
instalaciones. Para algunos de sus trabajos utiliz animales vivos, como en Senza titolo
[12 cavali], donde present 12 caballos atados en la Galleria LAttico durante tres
das, con la intencin de confrontar el inters ideolgico y econmico de las galeras.
4 5
Su trabajo tambin incluye performance y espectculos teatrales. Varias de sus piezas
se caracterizan por la creacin de un alfabeto personal a base de signos y palabras
plasmados directamente de la vida diaria. La intencin de su obra es expresar las
tensiones de la sociedad contempornea, as como la multiplicidad y la fragmentacin de su
lenguaje.
Alighiero Boetti
Turn, Piamonte, 1940 Roma, Lacio, 1994
La obra de Alighiero Boetti abarca tcnicas como el dibujo, la pintura, el bordado, la
fotografa y las impresiones. Rechaz los materiales de las artes superiores, preriendo
los de la vida cotidiana, como madera, cemento, ropa y luz elctrica. Se interes por la
dualidad y su tautologa, lo cual puede notarse en obras como Gemelli, o en la forma
de referirse a s mismo como Alighiero y Boetti. La ejecucin material de algunas de
sus piezas se caracteriza por haber sido realizada en colaboracin con otras personas,
ejemplo de ello es Mappa, una serie de mapas bordados por gente de Afganistn y
Pakistn. La interaccin con personas y elementos de diferentes culturas, principalmente
no occidentales, desempe un papel importante en su actividad artstica.
Durante una etapa de su trayectoria realiz varias series de arte postal, como
Dossier postale, que consisti en enviar por correo sobres vacos a artistas, crticos y
coleccionistas a direcciones inventadas de acuerdo con un itinerario igualmente cticio,
por lo que ninguno llegaba a su destinatario, as que le eran devueltos; de nuevo en
poder de los sobres, los introduca en otros ms grandes y los mandaba al segundo
destino imaginario, de manera que el contenido del sobre era siempre otro sobre
vaco.
Luca Maria Patella
Roma, Lacio, 1938
Vive y trabaja en Roma, Italia
Luca Maria Patella tiene una formacin en artes, ciencias y psicoanlisis. Su obra
abarca escritura, acuarela, pintura, esculturas, artes grcas, fotografa, intervenciones,
instalaciones, video y cine. Su trabajo se centra en el arte conceptual, con el cual busca
mezclar la ciencia con el arte por diferentes medios. Sus textos y sus obras, ricos en
referencias simblicas y metafricas, se centran tanto en aspectos onricos y poticos
como en los misterios de las culturas antiguas y modernas. Ejemplo de ello son los Vasa
physiognomica, vasos inspirados en la cultura clsica en los que plasma su perl y el
de su esposa Rosa.
Luciano Fabro
Turn, Piamonte, 1936 Miln, Lombarda, 2007
Escultor y escritor, Fabro explor con su trabajo problemas fenomenolgicos como la
relacin entre la experiencia emprica y el conocimiento, ligando naturaleza y cultura,
al mismo tiempo que desaando la unidad estilstica. Su concepcin humanista del
arte dio pie a la posibilidad de que cada obra que produjo propusiera una solucin
a un determinado problema. Esto provoca que su obra tienda a generar meditaciones
prolongadas en el pblico, dejando espacio a intuiciones inmediatas que complementan
la obra del artista.
El trabajo de Fabro se caracteriza por su transparencia, el reejo de supercies
pulidas y el empleo de efectos pticos. A lo largo de su carrera utiliz diferentes medios
y materiales, desde materiales pobres como peridicos y trapos, hasta algunos ms
renados como mrmol, hojas de bronce y oro, seda, vidrio y pieles. La tcnica de
Fabro depende en gran parte de la relacin de estos materiales entre s.
Mario Merz
Miln, Lombarda, 1925 Turn, Piamonte, 2003
Merz estudi medicina en la Universidad de Turn, y hacia nales de la segunda guerra
mundial se distingui por tener una motivacin poltica muy slida que lo impuls a
unirse a organizaciones antifascistas. A partir de la dcada de los aos sesenta, mientras
estaba en la crcel, se torn al arte para expresar su pensamiento, creando pinturas
abstractas. Aos despus, los temas y objetos que utilizaba se hicieron ms complejos
al comenzar a experimentar con instalaciones y con objetos de la vida cotidiana. Es
justamente en este periodo cuando se involucr con el movimiento del arte povera. Su
obra integra objetos comunes como botellas, paraguas, canastas o almohadas, que
usualmente se acentan con luces nen. En 1968 construy el primero de sus Igloos,
que son domos construidos temporalmente con materiales como lodo, bolsas de arena,
cera, piedra, ramas, metales, vidrio, etctera. Hacia el nal de su vida comenz a
interesarse por los nmeros y la nocin del crecimiento exponencial en la naturaleza en
sus series de Fibonacci.
A lo largo de su vida creativa, Merz intent que su obra fuese siempre
cambiante, pensada y construida especcamente para el contexto en el que se exhibira.
sta apela al mundo fsico al mismo tiempo que es transitoria, efmera y conceptual.
Marisa Merz
Turn, Piamonte, 1931
Vive y trabaja en Turn, Italia
En 1965 inici su actividad artstica con una serie de esculturas suspendidas, ligeras, huecas
y circulares, hechas de lminas de aluminio delgadas y soldadas entre s que colgaban del
techo y las paredes. La esttica de su obra se basa en algunas de las preocupaciones
bsicas del arte povera, como la uidez y las guras orgnicas. Desde la dcada de los
aos sesenta comenz a explorar la relacin entre arte y vida en sus esculturas, dibujos
e instalaciones. En muchas ocasiones adapta prcticas cotidianas, sobre todo femeninas,
para delimitar los espacios ntimos que se han denominado como propios de las mujeres. Su
obra busca remarcar la importancia de la intuicin y la subjetividad, y se enfoca en la idea
de autenticidad en las relaciones humanas. De esta manera logra transformar el espacio
atribuyndole una energa mgica y creando un lazo de intercambio entre la realidad
espacio externo y la imaginacin y las emociones espacio ntimo.
6 7
Giulio Paolini
Gnova, Liguria, 1940
Vive y trabaja en Turn, Piamonte, Italia
Es considerado uno de los artistas ms conceptuales dentro de la tendencia del arte
povera, a la cual se uni en 1960 en contra del informalismo. Desde sus primeras obras
tautolgicas se dedic a explorar la naturaleza del arte. Su trabajo se enfoca en los
procesos de interpretacin de la obra de arte en un espacio y tiempo reales. A partir
de los componentes bsicos de la pintura, como el lienzo, los marcos, las pinturas, y
del collage, busca analizar las relaciones entre autor, soporte y espectador. Tambin se
interesa por el proceso de percepcin y la experiencia visual de las personas.
Al igual que otros artistas povera, utiliza un lenguaje de imgenes metafricas
que toma de la naturaleza, la historia y la vida cotidiana, y que se relacionan con
movimientos polticos radicales. En sus instalaciones son recurrentes tcnicas como la
reproduccin, el grabado y la fotografa.
Giuseppe Penone
Garessio, Piamonte, 1947
Vive y trabaja en Turn, Piamonte, Italia
Comenz su carrera artstica presentando trabajos que se caracterizaban por intentar
establecer puntos de contacto entre el hombre y la naturaleza. En su obra, explora la
nocin emprica de conocimiento y experiencia, concentrndose en los gestos humanos
como el tacto y el moldeado, por lo que las impresiones y grabados son tcnicas
recurrentes en su obra.
A principios de la dcada de los aos setenta, Penone utiliz su cuerpo como
tema principal de su obra, imprimiendo imgenes dibujadas en su piel sobre yeso o
en las paredes. Con el tiempo, su obra se ha ido enriqueciendo con nuevos materiales
y formatos que van desde la accin documentada en textos y fotografas hasta la
escultura, la litografa y el dibujo. Penone acta de manera paralela con la dedicacin
de un carpintero o artesano y con la sosticacin de un artista.
Michelangelo Pistoletto
Biella, Piamonte, 1933
Vive y trabaja en Turn, Piamonte, Italia
Comenz su carrera como pintor a mediados de los aos cincuenta, con un especial
inters por la experimentacin con el autorretrato, y con el tiempo se convirti en una
pieza clave para el grupo de arte povera. Sus pinturas-espejo son imgenes de tamao
real de guras humanas sobre las que se reejan el espectador y el resto de la sala.
Esta tcnica desa las nociones tradicionales del arte gurativo, haciendo que tanto el
pblico como el espacio pasaran a formar parte de la obra, capturando un momento en
el que el presente y el pasado se encuentran en constante cambio. Su serie Oggetti in
meno (Objetos menos, 1966) est conformada por esculturas con forma de muebles,
que no son concebidas como obras autnomas y que desaaban la idea de acumulacin
de artculos bsicos o de primera necesidad. Su interaccin en un espacio pretenda
provocar una experiencia fsica y sicolgica en cada espectador.
Sus tcnicas abarcan escultura, fotografa, video, instalacin y performance,
en el que destaca su participacin en el grupo Lo Zoo (1968-70), una serie de acciones
que combinaban msica y teatro en diversos espacios, galeras y calles de varias
ciudades europeas.
Gilberto Zorio
Andorno Micca, Piamonte, 1944
Vive y trabaja en Turn, Piamonte, Italia
Estudi pintura y escultura en la Academia de Bellas Artes de Turn. A partir de 1967
expone algunas obras con otros artistas pertenecientes a la corriente de arte povera. Sus
tcnicas varan entre la instalacin, la escultura y el performance. Su obra se caracteriza
por un inters por los procesos naturales de transformacin de la materia, as como en
toda accin que involucre algn tipo de liberacin de energa. Al demostrar leyes fsicas
tan elementales como la evaporacin, la presin o los efectos de la humedad y el calor,
su trabajo se convierte en una metfora de la accin revolucionaria de los humanos
como una energa creativa.
Sus primeros trabajos se caracterizan por la inestabilidad; sin embargo, con el paso
del tiempo, se ha interesado ms por construir instalaciones complejas que involucren
mquinas que ayuden al espacio, el movimiento o la emisin de sonidos.
8 9
As a direct result of the artistic revolutions that took place around the world in the
middle of the 1970s, a group of artists from northern Italy brought attention to
an artistic paradigm whose inuence is still strong today. Interested as they were
in the intersection of art, life, culture and nature, their works were executed with
experimental rigor, using innovative materials, making unusual use of exhibition
spaces, and, of course, defying the customary norms of the role of art in society.
Acknowledgement of this shared posture was pointed out by critic and curator
Germano Celant, who coined the term Arte Povera to give it a theoretical
foundation and to make it part of modern culture by organizing regular group and
individual exhibitions. The name rst appeared in the catalogue written for the
exhibition Arte Povera y Spazio held in September 1967 at La Bertesca Gallery
in Genoa. Celant had been inspired by one of the premises of the Polish theater
director Jerzy Grotowski to describe a new art that is opposed to mimesis and
representation, as well as the imposition of linguistic and cultural constructions.
That same year, Celant published the manifesto Arte Povera: Notes for a Guerrilla
War. Celants statement locates an ideologically and politically committed artist
who rejected consumer society and the aesthetic ideas derived from it and as a
result dedicated himself not to the production of works of art but to the unfettered
projection of human activity.
Like reality, poor art, life and politics do not refer to something but instead
offer themselves through self-representation, as essence (. . . ) It is a free self-
projection, a tying of oneself to the rhythm of life in order to be able to
exhaust experience in action, in fact and in thought in an immediate, contingent way.
(Germano Celant, Arte Povera, 1969).
english
This movement delineates a system without restrictions or intellectual posturing, one
in which experimentation is key and deep emotional encounters are encouraged.
It is a manifesto for our times, one in sympathy with ordinary life events; it
stimulates a wide range of ideas and foments harmony with and commitment to
the environment. Within these parameters, the Arte Poverists link material and
symbol. Its practitioners bridge the gap between nature and culture by juxtaposing
organic elements (water, re, sand, stones, tree branches, animal, waxes, fats,
fruits, and vegetables) with manufactured materials (glass, fabrics, neon, and iron),
creating a new alphabet for a poetics of real experience that concentrates on the
sensorial, the lyrical and the subjective.
Transcending Italys borders, Arte Povera has become a model to follow and a
major presence in contemporary art. Besides recognizing the formal and ideological
inuence that this movement has had on the aesthetics and creative processes of
our time (especially as evident in the work of Mexican artists), with the selection of
these twelve artists, the anthology exhibition Ergo, materia. Arte povera, has
become part of the analysis of medium, matter and labor in art developed by the
curatorial cycle Hechos y delirios [Facts and Delusions]*.
10 11
Giovanni Anselmo
Borgofranco dIvrea, Piamonte, 1934
Lives and works in Turin, Piamonte,
Italy
Anselmos work includes painting, sculpture,
photography and installation, this last
consisting of a wide variety of organic and
inorganic materials, such as vegetables,
electricity, water, granite, plastic and metals.
His work has focused on the exploration of
the basic laws of physics and nature, such
as magnetic elds, energy, tension and
gravity, as well as the transformation and
juxtaposition of materials. Since 1969,
he has been developing the concepts of
nite/innite, macrocosm/microcosm,
invisibility and the position of the subject
within the universe. He is also interested in
the substitution of things by words, created
through projections, with which he seeks to
change the spectators ways of perception.
Pier Paolo Calzolari
Bologna, Emilia Romagna, 1934
Lives and works in Fossombrone, Las
Marcas, Italy
Pier Paolo Calzolari helped enlarge the
traditional practice of sculpture by including
organic materials, such as moss, banana
leaves, wax and tobacco. He also works
with malleable materials including lead, and
common objects such as mattresses. Some of
his work includes luminous elements such as
neon, which he uses to achieve a sublime
effect. His work includes painting, sculpture,
collage, installation (in which he has included
humans and animals) and performance. He
is especially interested in the processes of
artistic creation, alchemical transformations
and the concept of innity.
Jannis Kounellis
El Pireo, Greece, 1936
Lives and works in Rome, Lacio, Italy
Originally from Greece, Kounellis arrived
in Rome in 1956, where he began his
artistic activity in the Fine Arts Academy. He
originally created paintings, but beginning
in the 1960s he began to include certain
organic and inorganic elements, such as
cotton, coal, re, rocks, coffee and plants,
onto the surface, with which his work
became installations. He used live animals in
certain of his works, such as Senza titolo (12
cavali), where he presented 12 horses tied
to the Galleria LAttico for three days, with
the aim of confronting the ideological and
economic interests of the galleries. His work
also includes performance and theatrical
events. Many of his works are characterized
by the creation of a personal alphabet based
on signs and words taken directly from daily
life. The intention of his work is to express
the tensions of contemporary society, as
well as the multiplicity and fragmentation of
language.
Alighiero Boetti
Turin, Piamonte, 1940-Rome, Lacio,
1994
The work of Alighiero Boetti includes such
techniques as drawing, painting, embroidery,
photography and impressions. He rejected
ne art materials, preferring instead those of
daily life, such as wood, cement, clothes and
electric light. He was interested in duality
and its tautology, which can be seen in such
works as Gemelli, or in the way he referred
to himself as Alighiero and Boetti.
The material execution of some of his works
is characterized by having been created in
collaboration with other people, such as his
work Mappa, a series of maps embroidered
by people in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The
interaction between people and elements
of different cultures, especially non-Western
ones, played an important role in his artistic
activity.
During one phase of his work he created
several series of mail art, such as Dossier
Postal, which consisted of mailing empty
envelopes to artists, critics and collectors to
invented addresses according to a equally
ctitious map, for which reason none ever
reached their destination and were thus
returned to him. Once he received these
envelopes again, he put them into larger
ones and sent them to a second imaginary
destination, in such a way that the contents
of the envelope was always another empty
envelope.
Luca Maria Patella
Rome, Lacio, 1938
Lives and works in Rome, Italy
Luca Maria Patella was schooled in the
arts, science and psychoanalysis. His work
includes writing, watercolor, painting,
sculpture, graphic arts, photography,
interventions, installations, video and
lm. His work is based on conceptual art,
mixing science and art in different mediums.
His texts and his work, rich in symbolic
and metaphoric references, are based on
dreamlike and poetic meanings, and on the
mysteries of ancient and modern cultures.
One example of this is his work Vaso
physiognomica, glasses inspired in classic
culture designed with his prole and that of
his wife Rosa.
Luciano Fabro
Turin, Piamonte, 1936 - Milan,
Lombardia, 2007
Sculptor and writer, Fabro explores in his
work phenomenological problems such as
the relation between empirical experience
and knowledge, uniting nature and culture,
and at the same time defying any unied
aesthetic. His humanistic conception of art
allowed for the possibility that each work
he produced offered a solution to a certain
problem. As a result, his work tends to
generate prolonged meditations among the
public, allowing for immediate intuitions that
complement the artists work.
Fabros work is characterized by transparency,
the reection of polished surfaces and the
use of optical illusions. Throughout his career
he used different media and materials, from
poor materials such as newspapers and
rags, to some more rened materials such as
marble, bronze and gold leaf, silk, glass and
furs. Fabros technique depends in large part
on the relation between these materials.
Mario Merz
Milan, Lombardia, 1925 - Turin,
Piamonte, 2003
Merz studied medicine in the University of
Turin, and at the end of World War Two
he became very politicized and joined
anti-Fascist organizations. Beginning in
the 1960s, while in jail, he turned to art
to express his thoughts, creating abstract
paintings. Years later, the subjects and
objects he used became increasingly
complex, experimenting with installation
and everyday objects. During this period
he became involved in the arte povera
movement.
His work includes common objects such
as bottles, umbrellas, baskets and pillows,
usually highlighted with neon lights. In 1968,
he constructed the rst of his Igloos, domes
temporarily constructed with materials like
mud, bags of sand, wax, rocks, branches,
metal, glass, etc. Towards the end of his life,
he became interested in numbers and the
idea of exponential growth in nature, such
as in his series Fibonacci.
Marisa Merz
Turin, Piamonte, 1931
Lives and works in Turin, Italy
Marisa began her artistic activity in 1965
with a series of suspended, light, hollow and
circular sculptures made from thin sheets of
aluminum soldered together and hanging
from the ceiling or walls. The aesthetic of
her work is based on certain basic concerns
of arte povera, such as uidity and organic
gures. Since the 1960s, she began
exploring the relation between art and life
in her sculptures, drawings and installations.
On many occasions, she adapts daily
activities, especially feminine ones, in order
to describe the intimate spaces that have
been dened as belonging to women.
Her works seeks to highlight the importance
of intuition and subjectivity, and focuses on
the idea of authenticity in human relations.
In this way, she manages to transform
space, investing it with a magical energy
and creating an exchange between reality
(external space) and imagination and
emotions (intimate space).
Giulio Paolini
Genova, Liguria, 1940
Lives and works in Turin, Piamonte,
Italy
Giulio is considered one of the most
conceptual artists within the arte povera
12
movement, which he joined in 1960 in
opposition to informalism. From his rst
tautological work he dedicated himself to
exploring the nature of art. His work focuses
on the process of interpretation of the work
of art in real time and space. Using the basic
components of painting, such as the canvas,
frames, paintings and collage, he seeks
to analyze the relations between author,
medium and spectator. He is also interested
in the process of perception and the visual
experience of people. Like other arte povera
artists, he utilizes a language of metaphorical
images that he takes from nature, history and
daily life, and which are related to radical
political movements. In his installations, he
often uses techniques such as reproduction,
printing and photography.
Giuseppe Penone
Garessio, Piamonte, 1947
Lives and works in Turin, Piamonte,
Italy
Giuseppe began his artistic career by
presenting works characterized by their
intention to establish contact points between
man and nature. In his work, he explores
the empirical notion of knowledge and
experience, concentrating on human gestures
such as touch. Printed matter is often used
in his work. At the beginning of the 1960s,
Penone used his own body as a main theme
of his work, printing images drawn onto
plaster or walls.
Over time, his work has become enriched
with new materials and formats that include
action documented in texts and photographs,
as well as sculpture, lithography and
drawing. Penone sometimes acts more with
the dedication of a carpenter or artisan than
with the sophistication of an artist.
Michelangelo Pistoletto
Biella, Piamonte, 1933
Lives and works in Turin, Piamonte,
Italy
Michelangelo began his career as a painter
in the mid-1950s, with a special interest in
experimenting with self-portraits, and over
time he became a key player within the arte
povera group. His paintings-mirrors are full-
scale images of human gures over which
are reected the spectator and the rest of
the room. This technique dees traditional
ideas of gurative arte, in that it makes the
public and the space the work is exhibited
in become part of the work itself, capturing
a moment in which past and present meet in
constant change.
His series Oggetti in meno (Less Objects,
1966), not conceived of as autonomous
works, is comprised of sculptures in the
form of furniture that defy the idea of the
accumulation of basic goods. The works
interaction within a space aims to provoke
a physical and psychological experience in
each viewer.
His techniques include sculpture, photography,
video, installation and performance, most
notably in his participation in the group Lo
Zoo (1968-70), which created a series of
actions that combined music and theater
in different spaces, galleries and streets of
several European cities.
Gilberto Zorio
Andorno Micca, Piamonte, 1944
Lives and works in Turin, Piamonte,
Italy
Gilberto studied painting and sculpture in
the Academy of Fine Arts in Turin. In 1967
he began to exhibit work with other artists
associated with the arte povera movement.
His techniques include installation, sculpture
and performance.
His work is characterized by an interest in
the natural processes of the transformation
of material, as well as in all action that
involves some kind of liberation of energy.
By demonstrating such basic physical laws
as evaporation, pressure or the effects of
humidity and heat, his work becomes a
metaphor for the revolutionary action of
humans as a creative energy. His early work
is characterized by its instability, however,
over time, he has become more interested in
constructing complex installations that involve
machinery that affects space, movement and
the creation of sounds.