LUCIO DEL PEZZO (Naples, 1933-Milan, 2020).

LUCIO DEL PEZZO (Naples, 1933-Milan, 2020). Bookcase, 1970s. Wood. Measurements: 130 x 150 x 27 cm. In this bookcase we can appreciate the playful aspect of Luccio de Pezzo's object-paintings and assemblages. The ironic tone and the use of decontextualised everyday objects make his works reminiscent of Pop Art, but there is also an evident echo of Giorgio De Chirico, Carlo Carrà, Giorgio Morandi and the geometries of metaphysical painting. His works, which are difficult to label, are "visual boxes" in which the architectural and sculptural element encloses painting, collage and objects. A Neapolitan artist by birth and Milanese by adoption, del Pezzo began his career in the Neapolitan neo-avant-garde group "Gruppo 58", closely observing the experiments of Enrico Baj and his Nuclearism. Over the years he participated in important collaborations, such as with E. Baj and L. Fontana, with whom he created Il Labirinto del tempo libero (The Labyrinth of Free Time) for the 13th Milan Triennale (1964). His numerous exhibitions include the exhibition De Metafisica at the Krugier Gallery in Geneva, where he exhibited with De Chirico, Carrà, Morandi and Sironi (1967), and his first solo exhibition in Paris in 1968.