Emilio Isgrò

Born on 1937 at Barcellona di Pozzo, Sicily, Emilio Isgrò lives and works in Milan.

Conceptual artist and painter-­ but also poet, writer, dramaturge and director-­ Emilio Isgrò is considered one of the most internationally renowned and prestigious names of the Italian art scene of the XX and XXI century, together with Piero Manzoni and Lucio Fontana.

Isgrò work can be considered among the most revolutionary and original within the so called Vanguardias of the year 60s.

The Artist is the undisputed author of the ‘Cancellation (erasure technique)’ – the act of striking out the words of a printed book – something he began to explore in the early 1960s; Emilio Isgrò has made the ‘cancellation’ his poetic, although erasing is not to be considered as a metaphor in his practice, but as a actual action.

He works on texts of real ‘covers’, transforming and renewing the meaning, without annihilating or destroying the value of the word or the image.

As a pioneer of the ‘erasure’ of texts, encyclopedias, manuscripts, books, maps and even movie films, Emilio Isgrò has made his technique the essence of his research.

He looks towards a sort of reverse reading and re-­interpretation of the language which, through various manipulations, goes from being verbal to being visual.

As the Artist himself says: ”Erasures is not a simple negation, but instead it is the statement of new meanings: it is the transformation of a negative sign into a positive gesture”.

 

Exhibitions

At M77 Gallery:

Date: 06/10/2016

- 03/12/2016

Artworks

Studio per Isparta Turchia (Emilio Isgrò)

Year: 2010
Technique: Tecnica mista su carta
Dimensions: 52 × 64 cm

Particolare con formiche (Emilio Isgrò)

Year: 2009
Technique: Acrilico su tela montata su legno
Dimensions: 60 × 80 cm

Peking (Emilio Isgrò)

Year: 2007
Technique: Acrilico su tela montata su legno 95k
Dimensions: 40 × 151 cm

Andra (Emilio Isgrò)

Year: 2006
Technique: Tecnica mista su tavola
Dimensions: 150 × 35 cm

Lettera F (Emilio Isgrò)

Year: 1972
Technique: Tela emulsionata
Dimensions: 73 × 56 cm

Where is Sydney (Emilio Isgrò)

Year: 2016
Technique: Acrilico su mappamondo
Dimensions: 79 × 51 × 51 cm

Le virgole (Emilio Isgrò)

Year: 1967
Technique: Tela emulsionata
Dimensions: 108 × 74 cm

Della delicata scacchiera (Emilio Isgrò)

Year: 1972
Technique: China su libro tipografico in box di legno e plexiglass
Dimensions: 40,2 × 60,2 cm

Publications

News

Isgrò – Palazzo Reale
Milan celebrates Emilio Isgrò with a large-scale retrospective of his work. As a conceptual artist and painter, but also…
Emilio Isgrò’s new book
On the occasion of Emilio Isgrò's solo show at Fondazione Cini, Treccani Arte published the most complete monography of …
Happy birthday Emilio!
Our beloved and multi-talented artist Emilio Isgró turns 82 today! We gather around him on this very special day to wish…