Gianantonio Zago

Criticism by Rosa Spinillo Zago and the Neo-Informal-Materico Gianantonio Marino Zago doesn't want to be labelled nor pigeonholed; he is a multifaceted artist, versatile, deeply affected by the art of the second half of the XX century to which he belongs for birth but not for training or education. He learnt on the "road", gathering with other maudits artists like himself, among the many there was Mario Schifano. Zago has well absorbed Schifano's and Rauschenbeurg's styles and he's been deeply influenced by those, even if unconsciously. It's impossible not to think of Warhol or Manzoni; a shade of our dear old 1900 is in the imagination of this artist who didn't study History of Art but he quotes it through his sensations and emotions. He's completely subjugated to a passion for strong colours, a full red or a vivid blue which he makes sliding on the canvas like the Jackson Pollock "dripping". And then, we don't have to forget about Burri with his bags and his combustions, nor Fontana with his neat lines; Zago is all this, and even more. He is ceaselessly in the process of researching even when he goes around collecting wastes, such as coke tins, syringes, condoms, smashed rackets, old shoes, lighters, cigarette butts, food remnants; I figure Zago in my head – Daniel Spoerri in action, his infinite ideas which will inexorably turn rubbish into true Art; always with a whip of irony. What makes of an artist a real artist is irony, not taking oneself too seriously, the challenge, an open mind and high intellingence make the rest. And then the magic is done: a master piece is born as from a manufacturer demiurge God, a sort of protective numen living in every artist. Art is the expression of one's real inner self, it's the language reflecting the spirit of the artist's time, it's to communicate a message and to abandon provincialism. This is the only way to create the greatest Art, otherwise it is only an amateur work. Zago has dedicated his life to Art; in his loneliness he has infinite ideas, fascinations, sensations. His beginnings are figurative; in the Nineties he exhibits in New York a collection of twenty landscapes picturing Verona, his beloved city. At the end of the Nineties he abandons Figurativism for Neo Divisionism melting into Abstraction. His "mosaic" works are the most famous of this period. But today, his attention is directed to Informal Art, with very powerful material dripping colour which dominates the surface, with cohexistence of still objects worn out by time, assemblage and ready-made post-duchampian; it's almost a riedition of the Dada fairy tale omnipresent in our history. Art as provocation? Provoking has become a dominating element in any kind of language, very welcome if it serves the purpose of stirring consciences, but useless if it doesn't communicate anything. And the "Monnezza", as Zago calls it, doesn't lay only on the corners of the streets but also in the conscience of our minds passively observing our fates with no will for intervening and change them. Zago is not only an artist, he is a dreamer who believes in a better world, a special person with no hypocrisy, loyal, real as a very few are. Not to forget the Zago photographer, digital artist; unquestionably remarkable. But to be honest, I prefer the latest Zago, the neo-Informal artist he is, with his creations of "Monnezza"; there he reaches the full potential of his creativity. I would suggest to him to keep on following this path researching new materials because Art is continuous research, research, research… You are a researcher born and bred; I am sure you understood me, with my best wishes!