February 19, 2013

Lucio Fontana

Raised in Milan, Argentinean/Italian artist Lucio Fontana was actually born in Argentina on February 19, 1899. 

During World War II, Fontana returned to Argentina, where he began to formulate his theory on the concept of space. In 1947, he founded Spazialismo, or “Spatialism,” which he defined in several manifestos as the idea that art should include an element of energy, so that space can be seen in a dynamic way by the viewer, in a constant state of transition and tension. 

Upon his return to Italy in 1948, Fontana created his infamous set of Spatial Concept paintings, which were novel in his violent attack of the paint surface.

In 1966, he was awarded the Grand Prize for Painting at the Venice Biennale, a remarkable achievement occurring just two years before his death in 1968.