Giorgio Griffa
29 May - 16 Aug 2015
GIORGIO GRIFFA
Une rétrospective 1968-2014
29 May - 16 August 2015
Curator: Andrea Bellini, Director of the Centre.
The Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève is happy to present a retrospective of the Italian artist Giorgio Griffa from May 28 to August 23, 2015.
One of the most radical and articulate artists of the avant-garde working in Italy today, Giorgio Griffa became known in the late 60s for his paintings reduced to their essential components: canvas, colours and brushstrokes. The Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève presents an exhibition covering his oeuvre between 1968 and 2014.
The work of Griffa transcribes an idea of rhythm, sequence and the repetition of minimal gestures on non-stretched canvas, nailed to the walls and simply folded when not on display. The grid created through constantly folding them becomes part of the paintings' pattern, erasing the distinction between support and surface as well as abolishing the idea of painting as “open window”.
Griffa is associated with Minimalism, due to his interest in repetition, seriality, and formal dispossession. He is, however, unique within the movement for his refusal of geometric rigor and the obliteration of the artist's hand. Giorgio Griffa produces works that combine avant-garde and tradition, simplicity and complexity.
Giorgio Griffa's exhibition at the Centre d'Art Contemporain will comprise approximately forty works, covering the different stages of his development, from the horizontal lines, which he is renowned for since 1968 to his Alter Ego pieces dedicated to different artists of the recent or distant past; from Arabesco, a sequence of numbered works from the 90s, to his more recent paintings.
This exhibition is part of a wide curatorial project initiated by the Centre d'Art Contemporain, Genève, which will bring together, in addition to this retrospective, three other exhibitions in Europe:
Giorgio Griffa, Painting in the fold, Kunsthalle Bergen, (28.08-18.10.2015). Curated by Andrea Bellini and Martin Clark.
Giorgio Griffa, Works on paper, Fondazione Giuliani, Rome, (04.02-09.04.2016). Curated by Andrea Bellini.
Giorgio Griffa, Quasi tutto. Serralves Museum, Oporto, (Summer 2016). Curated by Andrea Bellini and Suzanne Cotter.
An artist's book with contributions from Andrea Bellini (Director of the Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève), Hans Ulrich Obrist (Serpentine London), Chris Dercon (Tate Modern), Suzanne Cotter (Serralves), Laura Cherubini, Marianna Vecellio and Martin Clark (Kunsthalle Bergen) will also be published by Mousse Publishing.
Giorgio Griffa was born in 1936 in Turin, where he still lives and works. Solo presentations of his work include MACRO, Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Rome (2011), Neuer Kunstverein, Aschaffenburg (2005), Städische Kunsthalle, Dusseldorf (1978) and Sonnabend Gallery, New York (1970), among others. His work was presented in the 38th and 40th Venice Bienniale in 1978 and 1980, as well as in group exhibitions at Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Museum Abteiberg, Kunstverein Münster, Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Kunstverein Hannover, Stadtische Museum, Monchengladbach, Kunstverein Frankfurt and Moderna Museet, Stockholm.
Une rétrospective 1968-2014
29 May - 16 August 2015
Curator: Andrea Bellini, Director of the Centre.
The Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève is happy to present a retrospective of the Italian artist Giorgio Griffa from May 28 to August 23, 2015.
One of the most radical and articulate artists of the avant-garde working in Italy today, Giorgio Griffa became known in the late 60s for his paintings reduced to their essential components: canvas, colours and brushstrokes. The Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève presents an exhibition covering his oeuvre between 1968 and 2014.
The work of Griffa transcribes an idea of rhythm, sequence and the repetition of minimal gestures on non-stretched canvas, nailed to the walls and simply folded when not on display. The grid created through constantly folding them becomes part of the paintings' pattern, erasing the distinction between support and surface as well as abolishing the idea of painting as “open window”.
Griffa is associated with Minimalism, due to his interest in repetition, seriality, and formal dispossession. He is, however, unique within the movement for his refusal of geometric rigor and the obliteration of the artist's hand. Giorgio Griffa produces works that combine avant-garde and tradition, simplicity and complexity.
Giorgio Griffa's exhibition at the Centre d'Art Contemporain will comprise approximately forty works, covering the different stages of his development, from the horizontal lines, which he is renowned for since 1968 to his Alter Ego pieces dedicated to different artists of the recent or distant past; from Arabesco, a sequence of numbered works from the 90s, to his more recent paintings.
This exhibition is part of a wide curatorial project initiated by the Centre d'Art Contemporain, Genève, which will bring together, in addition to this retrospective, three other exhibitions in Europe:
Giorgio Griffa, Painting in the fold, Kunsthalle Bergen, (28.08-18.10.2015). Curated by Andrea Bellini and Martin Clark.
Giorgio Griffa, Works on paper, Fondazione Giuliani, Rome, (04.02-09.04.2016). Curated by Andrea Bellini.
Giorgio Griffa, Quasi tutto. Serralves Museum, Oporto, (Summer 2016). Curated by Andrea Bellini and Suzanne Cotter.
An artist's book with contributions from Andrea Bellini (Director of the Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève), Hans Ulrich Obrist (Serpentine London), Chris Dercon (Tate Modern), Suzanne Cotter (Serralves), Laura Cherubini, Marianna Vecellio and Martin Clark (Kunsthalle Bergen) will also be published by Mousse Publishing.
Giorgio Griffa was born in 1936 in Turin, where he still lives and works. Solo presentations of his work include MACRO, Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Rome (2011), Neuer Kunstverein, Aschaffenburg (2005), Städische Kunsthalle, Dusseldorf (1978) and Sonnabend Gallery, New York (1970), among others. His work was presented in the 38th and 40th Venice Bienniale in 1978 and 1980, as well as in group exhibitions at Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Museum Abteiberg, Kunstverein Münster, Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Kunstverein Hannover, Stadtische Museum, Monchengladbach, Kunstverein Frankfurt and Moderna Museet, Stockholm.