Mario Schifano

Mario Schifano (Homs, 20 September 1934 - Rome, 26 January 1998). Considered by many to be the leading exponent of Italian pop art, he is considered the heir of Andy Warhol. His performances with the creation of huge paintings made with enamels and acrylics remain memorable. Many of his works, the so-called "monochromes", present only one or two colors, applied on wrapping paper glued to canvas. The influence of Jasper Johns is manifested in the use of numbers or isolated letters of the alphabet, but in the way of painting analogies with the work of Robert Rauschenberg can be found. In a painting from 1960 we read the word "no" painted with drippings of color in large capital letters, as in a mural graffiti. Even today, the works created in the 1960s remain incredibly topical. Among the most important are the series dedicated to advertising brands, bicycles, flowers and nature in general. Passionate scholar of new pictorial techniques, he was among the first to use the computer to create works, managing to process images and transfer them onto emulsified canvases. The author's prolificity, and the apparent simplicity of his works, led to the creation of an impressive number of fakes that flooded the markets, especially after his disappearance. Passionate about cycling, he designed the pink jersey twice. He died at the age of 64, after a life of excesses and excesses: he experienced prison, due to drugs, the asylum, and attempted suicide.