ART CITIES:London-Paolo Scheggi

Born in Florence in 1940, died very young in Rome in 1971, within a “long” decade (1958-1971) the research of Paolo Scheggi went through different fields of knowledge and disciplines, from visual arts to architecture to fashion, from poetry to urban and theatrical performances to arrive at a conceptual and metaphysics reflection. Characterized by a strong interdisciplinary approach, the route taken by Paolo Scheggi may be condensed in the interpretation given by Giovanni Maria Accame in 1976: “from the exhibition of the project to project of the exhibition”.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art Archive

Paolo Scheggi’s research engaged with a range of disciplines, from the visual arts to architecture, fashion, poetry, and urban and theatrical performance. His investigations into the relationship between the surface and the depth of the visual field built on the example of Lucio Fontana, who represented something of a spiritual father for the young artist. The exhibition “In Depth” spans Paolo Scheggi’s entire career, starting from his most famous works formed of overlapping layers of canvas pierced by biomorphic or geometric openings, providing a comprehensive overview of an extraordinarily experimental and multidisciplinary career. Born in Florence, but Milanese by adoption, Paolo Scheggi (1940-1971) was one of the protagonists of Spatialism and the Neo-Avant-Gardes of the 1960s. This exhibition is the first to be dedicated to the artist by a museum in Britain. Scheggi is best-known for his vibrant canvases incorporating elliptical or circular openings; these built on the pioneering example of Lucio Fontana, who represented something of a spiritual father to him during the early years of his career. However, Scheggi was a multifaceted artist whose work embraced many spheres of creative activity with striking coherence. The exhibition features Scheggi’s early pieces formed of monochrome or multi-colored metal sheets, which he produced during the late 1950s, as well as the “Reflected Zones” and “Intersurfaces” of the 1960s, constructed from three layered canvases incorporating organic, elliptical or perfectly circular openings. Also on display are the Inter-ena-cubes formed of colored cardboard and Plexiglas modules with which he continued his research into the relationship between the artwork and the viewer. The show includes clothes by Germana Marucelli, and sculptural installations and environments, as well as his designs for the theatre  and other kinds of performance dating from the late 1960s. It concludes with the conceptual works of the early 1970s, incorporating metaphysical and mythical-political messages, and is complemented by a selection of original archival material, such as documents, photographs and historical exhibition catalogues.  In Milan since 1961, Paolo Scheggi had a vibrant collaborative relationship with Germana Marucelli for whom he redesigned a tailoring studio, inaugurated with a parade of optical dresses in the spring of 1965. He came into contact with new research in the Lombard capital, attending the group around Azimuth and the first exponents of Arte Programmata, while Lucio Fontana, follows his research carefully after 1962. In 1964 Carlo Belloli ascribed him among the 44 protagonisti della visualità strutturata, in 1965 he was included by Dorfles among members of the Pittura Oggetto, in the same year he joined the movement nove tendencije, and held international contacts, especially in northern Europe , where he exhibited on numerous occasions and participated in group exhibitions Zero and Nul. Also fundamental was the architectural and environmental direction that his research would undertake since 1964, working with Nizzoli Associates (Mendini, Oliveri, Fronzoni), Bruno Munari (Sala Experimental Film, Milan Triennale in 1964) and resulting in the “Intercamera plastica” created by the end of 1966 and presented in Milan at Galleria del Naviglio in January 1967. Since 1968 he opened his investigation towards theater and performing arts, addressing the overcoming of the traditional space of the stage and the gallery and extending it into the city. During the last two years he engaged in a conceptual research culminating in the “Sette spazi recursivi autopunitivi” (never realized), the “Seiprofetiperseigeometrie” and the “Ondosa” environment, yet to be investigated in their complexity. He was present at the Venice Biennale in 1966, and in 1972, 1976, 1986, Scheggi exhibited in some of the major artistic events of the time, from Paris to Buenos Aires from New York to Hamburg, Dusseldorf to Zagreb.

Info: Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, 39a Canonbury Square, London, Duration 3/7-15/9/19, Days & Hours: Wed-Sat 11:00-18:00, Sun 12:0017:00, www.estorickcollection.com