DI ANDREA DAFFRA
Since 1974, a key figure in international Analytical Painting
Gianfranco Zappettini’s research finds its origins in the years when numerous exponents of Italian and European painting were engaged in reformulating the very premises of painting, questioning the way the artwork itself was understood: the work was no longer conceived as a site of representation, but as a field of operation where the relationships between concept, support, material and execution were made explicit. In other words, the image did not precede the process that would generate it, but instead took shape during its making, through a succession of phases in which the act of painting coincided with the progressive determination of the work’s structure.
Between 1962 and 1963, he acquired formal precision and constructive discipline in the studio of architect Konrad Wachsmann
Crucial in this direction was his experience in the studio of architect Konrad Wachsmann between 1962 and 1963, where Zappettini acquired the formal precision and constructive discipline that would remain constants in his practice. During these years, the Strutture and Tavole series articulated this orientation, organizing the surface according to measurable relationships and assigning to gesture a disciplined, non-expressive function, thus focusing painting’s attention on the very conditions of image formation. Alongside this development were his encounters in Albissola with artists such as Fontana, Manzoni and Capogrossi, as well as later visits to the studios of Bill, Delaunay and Magnelli. These experiences opened Zappettini to a context of exchange that, on the one hand, was turning toward the specificity of painting and its tools, and on the other, was constructing a network of operative relationships, one that would find continuity in his collaboration with Winfred Gaul and, subsequently, in his theoretical dialogue with critic Klaus Honnef. The exhibition Geplante Malerei in 1974 publicly affirmed this convergence, identifying Zappettini as one of the key figures of so-called Analytical Painting. During the 1970s, the Superfici acriliche and Superfici analitiche series adopted white as a field of light achieved through uniform applications; in parallel, with the Tele sovrapposte, the work was defined by the superimposition of multiple canvases, in which the sequence of operations remained visible within the stratification of the fabric itself. His participation in Documenta 6 in 1977 marked public recognition of this path, representing both a culmination and a consolidation of his position within the international discourse.
His participation in Documenta 6 in 1977 consolidated his position within the international debate
By the end of the decade, his investigation moved toward more rarefied configurations: in the cycles Al fine che traspare and Sullo sfogliar del fato, the surface was treated as a field of slow perception, where minimal variations revealed themselves over the duration of the gaze. In the new millennium, La trama e l’ordito revisited the question of structure, introducing weaving as the constructive principle of the surface. The series La Luce Prima, Il codice degli dei, and Con-Centro deepened the theme of centrality through the use of gold, considered in its luminous function, as an element capable of transforming the perception of the surface. Today, the Zappettini Foundation for Contemporary Art continues this line of research, positioning itself as a space dedicated to the study and critical examination of painting, with particular attention to the experiences and dialogues that have shaped the artist’s own path.
By the end of the 70s, he moved toward more rarefied configurations
