Antologica 1965–2008

P420 presents the most important retrospective of this Lombard artist who passed away in 2008, courageous researcher of new aesthetic solutions since the mid Sixties. After our inaugural exhibition (Dadamaino – Manzoni: the history of degree zero) and the more recent one dedicated to the protagonists of Gruppo T, the gallery continues its investigation, rediscovering the meticulous and extremely personal work of this artist who has been a presence on the Italian and international contemporary art scene for over forty years. Having completed his diploma from the Castello Sforzesco Secondary School for applied art in 1959, and after some years spent in Paris, London and Holland, in 1965 Antonio Scaccabarozzi (Merate 1936, Santa Maria Hoè 2008) exhibited his first works of research into geometric abstraction in Milan. From then on, as noted by Angela Madesani in the catalogue that accompanies the exhibition, the name of Antonio Scaccabarozzi appears frequently alongside some of the most important figures from that season. Umbro Apollonio chose his works to be exhibited alongside those of Alviani, Bonalumi, Castellani, Dorazio, Fontana and Nigro. In Karlsruhe he work was exhibited in a double solo show with Dadamaino in 1973. Tommaso Trini published his works alongside those of Gianni Colombo, Jorrit Tornquist, Dadamaino and De Alexandris. With the anthological exhibition here at the P420 gallery the work of this refined artist, who throughout his life kept a distance from the clamour of the art world, is re-read and re-evaluated in the right measure. On exhibition are Ricerche Strutturali, reticulate geometries with which the artist investigates the observer’s emotional contact with the work; Misurazioni and Quantità, in which the concept of colour suffices to make a painting, Polietileni in which severity and lightness evoke without describing and finally, the courageous transparencies of Velature. In all his work Scaccabarozzi makes coherent choices of the surface, canvas, polyethylene on which colour is applied as a quantity, volume, weight, structure, layer and this is how he reveals an unfamiliar image of reality, without taking anything for granted. Again, Angela Madesani states: We find ourselves before a unique personality, a man who deeply loved his freedom and refused to compromise. Not due to a strange form of masochistic heroism, but rather for a genuine existential need. “I am isolated; I live here in touch with nature and do not inquire into commercial art and all that this entails. I only move when I am called to exhibit, and I take advantage of this to visit museums, to study artworks in person. As for the rest, despite knowing the context, I remain outside of this world and this is how I live, enjoying nature and my work: I could do more but I do not feel the need at all.”