Zago polimaterika 2019

ROSA SPINILLO.Zago and the Neo-Informal-Materico
Gianantonio Marino Zago doesnt want to be labelled nor pigeonholed; he is a multifaceted artist and versatile, deeply affected by the art of the
second half of the XX century to which he belongs to by birth but not for training or education.
He learnt on the road, gathering with other maudits artists like himself. Among the many there was Mario Schifano. Zago has absorbed
Schifanos and Rauschenbeurgs styles well and hes been deeply influenced by them, even if unconsciously.
Its impossible not to think of Warhol or Manzoni; a shade of our dear old 1900s is in the imagination of this artist who didnt study History of Art
but he quotes it through his sensations and emotions. Hes completely subjugated to a passion for strong colours, a full red or a vivid blue which
he makes, sliding on the canvas like the Jackson Pollock “dripping”. And then, we shouldnt forget about Burri with his bags and his combustions, nor Fontana with his neat lines; Zago is all this, and even more. He is ceaselessly in the process of researching even when he goes
around collecting waste, such as coke tins, syringes, condoms, smashed rackets, old shoes, lighters, cigarette butts, food remnants; I figure
Zago in my head Daniel Spoerri in action, his infinite ideas which will inexorably turn rubbish into true Art; always with a whip of irony. What
makes an artist a real artist is irony, not taking oneself too seriously, the challenge, an open mind and high intellingence make the rest. And
then the magic is done: a master piece is born as from a manufacturer demiurge God, a sort of protective numen living in every artist.
Art is the expression of ones real inner self, its the language reflecting the spirit of the artists time, its to communicate a message and to abandon
provincialism. This is the only way to create the greatest Art, otherwise it is only an amateur work.
Zago has dedicated his life to Art; in his loneliness he has infinite ideas, fascinations, sensations. His beginnings are figurative; in the Nineties
he exhibits in New York a collection of twenty landscapes picturing Verona, his beloved city. At the end of the Nineties he abandons
Figurativism for Neo Divisionism melting into Abstraction. His “mosaic” works are the most famous of this period. But today, his attention is
directed to Informal Art, with very powerful material, dripping colour which dominates the surface, cohexisting with still objects worn out by
time, assemblage and ready-made post-duchampian; it s almost a rendition of the Dada fairy tale omnipresent in our history. Art as provocation
Provoking has become a dominating element in any kind of language, very welcome if it serves the purpose of stirring consciences, but
useless if it doesnt communicate anything. And the “Monnezza”, as Zago calls it, doesnt lay only on the corners of the streets but also in our
conscience minds, passively observing our fates with no will for intervening and change them. Zago is not only an artist, he is a dreamer who
believes in a better world, a special person with no hypocrisy, loyal and real as a very few are. Not to forget the Zago photographer, digital artist;
unquestionably remarkable. But to be honest, I prefer the latest Zago, the neo-Informal artist he is, with his creations of “Mondezza”; there
he reaches the full potential of his creativity. I would suggest to him to keep on following this path researching new materials because Art is
continuous research, research, research.
You are a researcher born and bred; I am sure you understood me, with my best wishes!