Ettore Spalletti
Ettore Spalletti is a seminal figure in the Italian Minimalism movement, known primarily for his unusually hued works. Spalletti’s monochromatic paintings and sculptures have powder-like surfaces that make the work seem almost surface-less, or without dimension. His blues and pinks are otherworldly, found nowhere in nature. Most often, Spalletti’s practice involve rubbing pigment into gesso, layer by layer over many days, building up and sanding down, to create a desired tone using the impasto technique. Spalletti’s works are often described as contemplative, motivating the viewer to encounter them from many different angles, working to understand objects that seem to defy space.
In the 1970’s Spalletti was visited by Joseph Beuys and Jannis Kounellis, artists associated with the arte povera movement. Retaining a poetic sensibility from these influences, Spalletti’s works are now more closely aligned with American color painting, minimal and post minimal art, and even, in his references to architecture, European sculpture of the 1980s and 90s.
Spalletti has exhibited in major museums worldwide. Select solo exhibitions include Museum Folkwang in Essen, the Museum Van Hedendaagse Kunst di Gent, the Halle d’art contemporain di Rennes, Amsterdam’s De Appel Art Center, the Kunstverein Munchen, the Portikus Frankfurt, the Musee d’art …
Ettore Spalletti is a seminal figure in the Italian Minimalism movement, known primarily for his unusually hued works. Spalletti’s monochromatic paintings and sculptures have powder-like surfaces that make the work seem almost surface-less, or without dimension. His blues and pinks are otherworldly, found nowhere in nature. Most often, Spalletti’s practice involve rubbing pigment into gesso, layer by layer over many days, building up and sanding down, to create a desired tone using the impasto technique. Spalletti’s works are often described as contemplative, motivating the viewer to encounter them from many different angles, working to understand objects that seem to defy space.
In the 1970’s Spalletti was visited by Joseph Beuys and Jannis Kounellis, artists associated with the arte povera movement. Retaining a poetic sensibility from these influences, Spalletti’s works are now more closely aligned with American color painting, minimal and post minimal art, and even, in his references to architecture, European sculpture of the 1980s and 90s.
Spalletti has exhibited in major museums worldwide. Select solo exhibitions include Museum Folkwang in Essen, the Museum Van Hedendaagse Kunst di Gent, the Halle d’art contemporain di Rennes, Amsterdam’s De Appel Art Center, the Kunstverein Munchen, the Portikus Frankfurt, the Musee d’art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the IVAM Centre del Carme in Valencia, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the MUHKA in Antwerp, the Musee d’Art Moderne e Contemporain de Strasbourg, the Museo di Capodimente in Naples, the Fundacion “la Caixa” in Madrid, the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds, the Academy of France-Villa Medici in Rome, the Museum Kurhaus, Kleve, and the Galleria National d’Arte Modern in Rome. Spalletti has represented Italy at the Venice Biennale in 1997 and also participated in the 1982, 1993, and 1995 editions. He has shown at Documenta in Kassel in 1982 and 1993.
