Artists

Paolo Scirpa (Syracuse, Sicily, 1934) lives in Milan. His work has always taken the dimension of an inner quest, outside any forms of restrictive categorization.

From the 1970s, he moved from a two-dimensional iconography to the modularity of an objective space, transformed by light and mirrors into a poly-objective format. His work moved towards a dimension in which light and space become the immaterial and spectacular principal themes. The artist evidently wishes to depict not so much real light, as "ideal" light, namely the idea of infinity, and so he therefore uses the means available to him, fluorescent tubes and mirrors.

This led to the invention of his Ludoscopes, three-dimensional works that present the perception of a fictitious depth, towards luminous hyperspaces in which the boundary between reality and illusion no longer exists. Bruno Munari also commented on the playful and ironic dimension of these works. Scirpa's virtual spaces attracted attention from scholars of art and science.

Over the course of the years, he has also created large works highlighting the negative aspects of consumerist society, as well as installations, and paintings which could be described as two-dimensional depictions of his Ludoscopes.

In the 1980s, he began working on design themes, inserting his bottomless wells into various episodes of architecture and other prestigious locations.

He has exhibited at the Salon Grands et Jeunes d’aujourd’hui in Paris, at the 9th and 13th Quadriennial Exhibitions in Rome, at Palazzo dei Diamanti (Ferrara), and more recently at ZKM Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie (Karlsruhe), at Neue Galerie (Graz), at MART Museo d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, at GNAM Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna (Rome), at MACRO Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Roma, at Museum Ritter (Waldenbuch), at Farnesina (Ministry of Foreign Affairi - Rome), at MACBA (Buenos Aires), at MACLA (La Plata), at GR Gallery (New York), at MUO (Zagabria), at Instituto Tomie Ohtake (San Paolo).

His works are present in many museums and collections such as the Museo del Novecento (Milan), Civiche Raccolte Stampe Achille Bertarelli (Castello Sforzesco, Milan), Biblioteca dell’Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, MAPP Museo d’Arte Paolo Pini (Milan), MAGA Museo Arte Gallarate (Milan), VAF-Stiftung (MART Trento/Rovereto), GNAM Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna (Rome), Museum Ritter (Waldenbuch), Museo Civico d'Arte Contemporanea (Gibellina), Museum (Bagheria), Fabbriche Chiaramontane (Agrigento), Museum Ritter a Waldenbuch and ’Hôtel de Ville (Caen).

In 2015 Inda-Istituto Nazionale del Dramma Antico entrusted him to realize the poster dedicated to classical shows at Greek Theatre in Syracuse.

Scirpa has taught at the Brera Fine Arts Academy.

Critical texts by:

Riccardo Barletta, Carlo Belloli, Rossana Bossaglia, Ginevra Bria, Luciano Caramel, Silvio Ceccato, Claudio Cerritelli, Cesare Chirici, Vittoria Coen, Andrea Del Guercio, Mario De Micheli, Marina De Stasio, Giorgio Di Genova, Gillo Dorfles, Vittorio Fagone, Ornella Fazzina, Pedro Fiori, Flaminio Gualdoni, Annette Malochet, Corrado Maltese, Gabriel Mandel, Giorgio Mascherpa, Luigi Meneghelli, Marco Meneguzzo, Bruno Munari, Carlo Munari, Antonio Musiari, Daniela Palazzoli, Demetrio Paparoni, Francesco Poli, Pierre Restany, Roberto Sanesi, Giorgio Segato, Carmelo Strano, Francesco Tedeschi, Antonino Uccello, Miklos N. Varga, Alberto Veca, Francesco Vincitorio, Maurizio Vitta, Emanuele Zucchini.