Giovanni Alicò © (Catania, 1906 - Milano, 1971)
Abstract depiction

Abstract depiction
60's

Technique:

Oil painting on canvas

Dimensions:

24x30 cm

Giovanni Alicò was born in Catania in 1906. Self-taught painter, his approach to art is free from pre-built constraints or tracks. In 1935 he settled first in Naples then in Milan. In 1942 he was present with a work at the XXIII Venice Biennale, and in the same year, he held his first personal exhibition at the Tornabuoni Gallery in Florence. Six years of activity in Argentina followed between 1948 and 1953, with three solo shows in Buenos Aires and many participations in group exhibitions in various national exhibitions in the cities of La Rioja, Santa Fè, Mendoza and Rosario. Returning to Italy, from the mid-fifties and throughout the following decade, there were several personal exhibitions in Catania, Milan, Rome and Como. It was the Suzzara Award in 1955 with the work Contadino che riposa, where the painter, freed from a cold realistic description and far from the neo-Cubism typical of the first post-war period, abandons himself to a painting of luministic suggestion, with large fields of greens, of grays, of earths, supported by a dense pictorial material defined by a thick contour line. The painting is currently kept in the Suzzara Civic Gallery of Contemporary Art. In 1957 he exhibited at the Galleria il Pincio in Piazza del Popolo in Rome, one of the most active realities in the panorama of art exhibitions, where Renato Guttuso and Carla Accardi also exhibited there. He began his artistic career by depicting in his painting the carts with the colorful stories of the puppets using preferably flat colors, then he introduces in his palette delicate, vibrant colors, and focuses on themes pervaded by a marked spirituality. Favorite subjects are female figures, still lifes and landscapes. In the 1950s, Giovanni Alicò approached his style to that of Guttuso, in the context of social realism. His attention is towards a synthetic figurative painting, which proceeds by suggestions in the general adherence to the themes of social realism. After 1960, an important poetic made of arabesques and luminous and chromatic effects enters his work and shaded furniture. Since 1967 anthropomorphic characters, a sort of ghosts, have appeared on these backgrounds, hovering in the space of the composition. The artist's latest production is instead characterized by paintings where signs, repeated geometric shapes and large splashes of color are rendered with intense and vivid colors, arriving at outcomes of an informal and material nature. Giovanni Alicò died in Catania in 1971. After his death, an important retrospective was set up at the Palazzo della Borsa in Catania in 1973. Many of his works are present in important private collections in Europe and America and in various art foundations.

Other:

Giovanni Alicò was born in Catania in 1906.
Self-taught painter, his approach to art is free from pre-built constraints or binaries. In 1935
first in Naples then in Milan. In 1942 he is present with a work at the XXIII Venice Biennale, and in the
the same year, he held his first solo exhibition at the Tornabuoni Gallery in Florence. Followed by, in 1948
and 1953, six years of activity in Argentina, with three solo shows in Buenos Aires and many participations in
collective exhibitions in various national salons in the cities of La Rioja, Santa Fè, Mendoza and Rosario. Returned to
Italy, from the mid-fifties and throughout the following decade several were his personal
Catania, Milan, Rome and Como.
It was Suzzara Award in 1955 with the work Contadino che riposa, where the painter, released from a
cold realistic description and far from the neo-Cubism typical of the first post-war period, it abandons itself
to a painting by on lighting management, with large backgrounds of greens, grays, earths, supported by
a dense pictorial material defined by a thick contour line. The painting is currently preserved
in the Civic Gallery of Contemporary Art of Suzzara.
In 1957 he exhibited at the Galleria il Pincio in Piazza del Popolo in Rome, one of the most active realities in the
panorama of art exhibitions, where Renato Guttuso and Carla Accardi also exhibited.
He began his artistic career by depicting carts with the colorful stories of the puppets
using preferably flat colors, then introduces in its palette delicate colors,
vibrant, and focuses on themes pervaded by a marked spirituality. Favorite subjects are figures
feminine, still lifes and landscapes. In the 1950s Giovanni Alicò approached his style to that of
Guttuso, in the context of social realism. His focus is on a synthetic figurative painting, which
proceeds by suggestions in the general adherence to the themes of social realism.
After 1960 an important poetic made of arabesque luminous and chromatic effects enters his work
shaded furniture. Since 1967 anthropomorphic characters have appeared on these backgrounds, a sort of ghosts, which
hover in the space of the composition. The artist's latest production is instead characterized by paintings
where signs, repeated geometric shapes and large splashes of color are rendered with intense and vivid colors
leading to informal and material outcomes.
Giovanni Alicò died in Catania in 1971. After his death, an important retrospective is set up
at the Palazzo della Borsa in Catania in 1973. Many of his works are present in important collections
private in Europe and America and in various art foundations