GIANNI PIACENTINO

An artist trained in the lively environment of Turin in the mid-1960s in which the Arte Povera movement was germinating, Piacentino took part in the first exhibitions of that trend, exhibiting in Enzo Sperone’s Turin gallery in 1966 and participating in the ‘Prospect ’68’ exhibition at the Kunsthalle in Düsseldorf in 1968.

During these years he made large sculptures in wood coated with polyester and painted with metallic or lacquered colours, which took up everyday objects such as tables, stairs and fixtures.

He continues to work on industrial materials, from metals to paints, with a view to constantly testing their expressive and formal potential. Experimenting them, first and foremost, on himself: from 1971 to 1977, in fact, he rides on racing motorbikes that he decorates himself; meanwhile, the first minimalist structures, created since the end of the 1960s, translate into forms that are increasingly aimed at celebrating the dynamism of machines, the myth of speed, engines and movement, recalling cars, bicycles, motorbikes and aircraft.

In his sculptures he assembles pieces of aeroplanes and cars that he then calls ‘Trophy’, ‘Vehicle’, ‘Race’. If the historical references are to the modern idol of the Futurist machine – as was emphasised during his presence at the ‘Automobile-Autonobile’ exhibition in the Gallery – Piacentino’s intent is to immerse himself in contemporary times.