Gianfranco Zappettini. The Method of Painting

Glenda Cinquegrana Art Consulting is pleased to present the solo exhibition dedicated to the master of Analytical Painting, Gianfranco Zappettini, titled The Method of Painting, curated by Andrea Daffra, Artistic Director of the Fondazione Zappettini in Chiavari. The exhibition, which brings together a significant core of works by Zappettini, aims to highlight the continuity within the painter's method between his historical research and his most recent production.

Structured as an intense dialogue between works from the 1960s and 1970s and several pieces from the last decade, the exhibition seeks to underscore the coherence of a method that spans the artist's entire trajectory—one based on the construction of the painting as an analytical instrument, in which surface, support, and light represent the essential terms of form. The historical works from the series Strutture, Tavole, Superfici analitiche and Le tele sovrapposte are juxtaposed with recent cycles such as La trama e l'ordito, La Luce Prima and Con-Centro, enabling viewers to observe how the reflection on perception continually redefines itself within Zappettini's practice over time, while never relinquishing analytical and formal consistency. Conceived not according to a chronological reconstruction but through a comparative criterion, the exhibition path identifies both the constants and the transformations that have occurred within the artist's language.

The exhibition also presents an unpublished photographic nucleus: in Zappettini's research, photography occupies a position linked to the reflection on perception and on the conditions of image formation; it becomes a fundamental instrument for constructing the analytical path developed in painting. In works such as En plein air, S. Andrea a Rovereto and Sera a S. Pietro di Rovereto, photography—set in direct relation to natural light and visual memory—becomes a tool for verifying the act of seeing. Rather than a mere documentary device, it serves as an operative instrument that, much like the canvas, renders time and space visible, elements that unfold within the analytical works.

Biography

Gianfranco Zappettini. Born in Genoa in 1939, he trained at the Accademia di Carrara. Since 2002 he has lived and worked in Chiavari, where the following year he established the Fondazione Zappettini per l'Arte Contemporanea, devoted to preserving, promoting, and disseminating his work and Analytical Painting through exhibitions, publications, and public programs. Selected solo shows Galleria La Polena, Genoa, 1965; Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster, 1975; Galerie Peccolo Köln, 1976; Internationaal Cultureel Centrum, Antwerp, 1978; Galleria Studio G7, Bologna, IT 1979; Contemporary Art Museum Villa Croce, Genoa, 1998; Centro Espositivo Rocca di Umbertide, (PG); Leggerezze, CAMeC, La Spezia, IT, 2007; Forum Kunst, Rottweil, 2007; Paint?! Gianfranco Zappettini e l'astrazione analitica europea, Lucca Center of Contemporary Art, Lucca, 2012; Vasarely Vasarely Múzeum, Janus Pannonius, Pécs; MAAB Michael Biasi, Milan, 2015; The Golden Age, Mazzoleni, Londra, 2020, Torino, 2022; Standing Pine, Tokyo. Selected collective exhibitions: Premio San Fedele, Centro San Fedele Milan, 1961; Museo Sperimentale d'Arte Contemporanea, Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin, 1967; Arte concreta, Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster; cura di K. Honne, 1971; Tempi di percezione, Livorno, IT, 1973; Un futuro possibile. Nuova Pittura, Ferrara, 1973; Geplante Malerei, Münster and Milan, Amsterdam, 1974; Analytische Malerei, Galerie La Bertesca, Düsseldorf, 1975; Concerning Painting..., Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam, Hedendaagse Kunst, Utrecht, 1976; APhoto Studio Marconi Milan, 1977; Malerei, Documenta 6, Kassel, 1977; Bilder ohne Bilder, curated by K. Honnef, Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn, 1977; Abstraction Analytique, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, 1978; Pittura '70. Pittura e astrazione analitica, curated by G. Bonomi, Fondazione Zappettini, Chiavari (GE); Pittura '70, Then and Now, Italian Culture Institure, London, 2006; Pittura analitica. I percorsi italiani. 1970–1980, Museo della Permanente, Milan, IT 2007; Pittura Analitica VAF, 2007; Viaggio in Italia. Arte italiana 1960-90, dalla collezione della Neue Galerie di Graz e Fondazione VAF Frankfurt am Main, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz; Pensare pittura. Una linea internazionale di ricerca negli anni Settanta, Villa Croce Museum, Genoa, IT, 2009; LIV, Venezia, 2011; In Astratto. Abstraction in Italy 1930-1980. Arte astratta in Italia 1930-1980, Estorick Collection, London; CAMeC– Centro Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, La Spezia, 2012; Proportio, Museo Fortuny, Venice. 2015.