Lucio Fontana

Lucio Fontana was an Argentine-Italian artist who was born in 1899 in Rosario, Argentina. He was the son of an Italian sculptor who taught him the basics of sculpture and ceramics. He moved to Italy in 1928 and studied at the Brera Academy in Milan, where he experimented with abstract and expressionist styles. He returned to Argentina in 1940 and founded the Altamira Academy, where he wrote the White Manifesto, a declaration of his artistic vision that aimed to create a new art for the Space Age. He moved back to Italy in 1947 and launched the Spatialism movement, which sought to transcend the limits of traditional painting and sculpture by incorporating space, light, and movement into his works. He is best known for his series of Spatial Concepts, which consisted of monochrome canvases with holes or slashes that revealed the space behind them. He also created sculptures, installations, and environments that used neon lights, glass, metal, and clay to create dynamic and immersive effects. He died in 1968 in Comabbio, Italy, leaving behind a legacy of innovation and experimentation that influenced many artists of the 20th century.