Gilberto Zorio
Andorno Micca, Italy, 1944 -
Zorio’s work emphasizes process and alchemy, exploring transformative natural phenomena like evaporation or oxidation and the effects wrought upon materials by these chemical interventions. He has always been preoccupied with the idea of energy. This focus led him to examine the properties of electricity, incorporating a lamp or incandescent tubes in some pieces. In other works, he adopted star and javelin forms—both archetypal constructs intimating energy. Zorio frequently employs fragile materials in his sculpture, creating giant stars from terra-cotta or perching Pyrex alembics containing liquid solutions upon slender steel javelins. He tends to suspend or balance these components in purposely precarious installations, suggesting the tensions and transience of the physical realm.
In 1976, the Kunstmuseum Luzern, Lucerne, recognized Zorio with a significant exhibition. A mid-career retrospective of the artist’s work followed at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, in 1979. A monograph on Zorio was published in Italian in 1982. By 1984, he had started another series utilizing a primeval form, that of the canoe, which he made from assorted materials such as pitch or steel. The canoe, along with the star and javelin, became a recurrent motif in Zorio’s oeuvre. In 1985, the Kunstverein, Stuttgart, organized a major retrospective, which traveled in 1986 to the Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris; Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva; and Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven. In 1992, an exhibition took place at the Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato, Italy. Zorio lives in Turin.Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, and in 1985 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. In the 1980s, Turrell created dark pieces in which light is reduced to barely perceptible levels. The artist lives in Flagstaff, Arizona, and Inishkeame, Ireland.
--from Guggenheim website
Person TypeIndividual
Terms
- Male
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