Lucio Del Pezzo (Naples, 1933), Neapolitan artist and leading figure in Object Painting.
Born and raised in Naples, where he attended the Academy of Fine Arts, Del Pezzo was part of a small core of intellectuals who gravitated around the magazine Documento Sud, a journal linked to the Milanese Nuclear Movement.
In 1958, with a group of colleagues from the academy, he founded Gruppo ’58, which aspired to a recovery of the local iconological tradition by breaking traditional patterns.
He moved to Milan in the 1960s and began a new phase in his artistic research, moving from a predominantly material painting to an architectural atmosphere that echoed the themes of metaphysics.
The works of this period are marked by a playful and lighthearted character, tending to mock modern, consumerist and pop society, emphasizing the merits and flaws of everyday life.
The strong point of his activity has always been his exceptional manual skill, which has allowed him to combine creativity with the practice of craftsmanship, creating objects that can be considered the plastic-chromatic translation of a metaphysical atmosphere.
In his works one can find figural emblems, such as triangles, circles, cones, or in a more narrative connotation targets, skittles, fragments of cornices. These details served to denote iconic elements in his paintings, emphasizing the continuous tension between the playful, playful, mocking aspect and the structural, morphological, compositional aspect.
In 1965 he participated in the inaugural exhibition of Studio Marconi, with which he began an intense collaborative relationship.
Since 1984 he has taught “Experimental Researches on Painting” at the New Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, where he lives and works.
- Senza titolo 1964, tecnica mista su carta, cm 104 x 69.