Grazia Varisco: Contemporary Paths 19572022

(Hardback)

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The work of Grazia Varisco (Milan 1937) is among the most interesting and innovative on the contemporary European art scene, being bound up with research into Kinetic, Programmed or more generally "Exact" Art. The combinations of planning and chance, play and process, have produced a range of surprising and always coherent results. This book, edited by Marco Meneguzzo, gives an account of over sixty years of continuous achievement through new critical essays, a broad selection of works and a scholarly apparatus that make it a staple work for understanding the artist in depth. The monograph reveals the complexity of the research carried out by this prominent artist of our modernity and documents the themes of her research and experimentation beginning in the 60s. It features a broad selection of important works from her various artistic periods including Magnetic Tables (an invitation to play by attributing an expressive function to the elements of the work); a recreation of the artist's historic solo exhibition at the Galleria Schwarz in 1969 in Milan; Variable Light Screens, Reticoli Frangibili, Mercuriali e Variabili + Quadrionda from the 60s, Extrapagine, Spazi Potenziali, Meridiana and Gnomoni (a reflection on the essential, exalting Chance as an element to be investigated that finds its way into every occasion). Also featured are essential works aiming at simplification of form from the 90s and works from the 2000s that assume new forms but still revolve around the change and ambiguity of perception affecting the visitor, calling for continuous verification of Plan versus Chance.

Author Bio

Marco Meneguzzo, a contemporary art critic and curator, specialising in Italian art from the post-war period to the present (as well as in artistic issues linked to globalisation), has curated or presented more than 200 modern or contemporary art shows since 1979. He is a member of the scientific committee of the official Archives of Mario Schifano, of Vincenzo Agnetti, of Marcello Morandini and of Nanda Vigo, and chairs the Gi Pomodoro Archive.