After completing classical studies, Giovanni Anselmo began self-taught experiments with drawing and traditional painting while working as a graphic designer. In 1967, he became one of the artists brought together by Germano Celant under the name of Arte Povera: an artistic trend that rejects the cultural values associated with an organized and technologically advanced society. It favors the recovery of action, the contingent and the archetypal. Anselmo’s artistic exploration is dedicated to juxtaposing materials and objects with contrasting properties — such as heavy and light, organic and inorganic, technological and natural — in order to emphasize the inherent energy within matter. Ultimately, his work exalts the potential presence of the unseen within the seen, and the infinite within the finite.
Works from the 1960s that fully meet these requirements are: Senza titolo (1967), Neon nel cemento (1967-1969), Torsione (1968) and Respiro (1969). The first one is a sheet of Plexiglas folded thanks to the support of a hooked iron, creating a situation of precarious tension demonstrating the permanence of physical force exerted on the material without needing for stable connections. Neon nel cemento encapsulates its own mortality, as the neon tubes encased within concrete blocks illuminate the work, imbuing it with life only as long as the energy source permits. Torsione reveals the intricate weave formed by an iron bar beneath a layer of moleskin fabric, emphasizing a sense of fragility and tension inherent in the project’s concept. Conversely, Respiro features iron beams juxtaposed with a sea sponge, two elements diametrically opposed in nature. The subtle fluctuations in temperature induce changes in the iron, consequently altering the shape of the sponge.
Building upon the concepts explored in his earlier works, Anselmo delved into a series of pieces during the 1980s, comprised of granite blocks or slabs often associated with notions of distance or overseas. These elements were suspended or balanced by steel cables and slipknots. While the positioning of the stone elements suggests a potential loss of gravitational influence, it is precisely through the relentless force of gravity that the pieces maintain their equilibrium, steadily tightening the slipknots under their weight.
One notable work from this period is Verso oltremare (1984), wherein a slab is delicately balanced by a steel cable, causing its apex to gravitate, without contact, towards a small rectangle of ultramarine blue painted on the wall. The term “ultramarine” in the title refers to the specific hue of blue used in the painting, deriving its name from the ancient practice of importing the mineral from distant lands for pigment production. The longing for distant realms is a fundamental aspect of the artist’s exploration. Continuously since the 1960s, Anselmo has utilized objects like the magnetic needle found in a compass to symbolize directional forces. In Mentre la terra si orienta (1967-2007), this needle is encased within a layer of soil, highlighting the intrinsic truth of natural elements within the confines of a museum space. By exposing viewers to the necessity of Earth’s magnetic field, the artwork invites a direct encounter with the awe-inspiring power of the physical forces that govern the universe.
Over the years, Anselmo took part in major national and international solo and group exhibitions and reviews: Arte povera at La Bertesca Gallery in Genoa (1967), several editions of the Venice Biennale – where, in the 1990, he received the Golden Lion for painting – and of Documenta in Kassel, the São Paulo Biennial (1994), Italian art. The visible and the invisible at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (1998), Minimalia at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome (1998), Arte povera in collezione at the Castello di Rivoli (2000-2001), On line: drawing through the twentieth century at MoMA (2010) and, finally, Entrare nell’opera at the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca in Rome (2019-2020). His works are held in the most important international collections, as well as in prestigious institutions. Those have hosted, over the years, solo exhibitions dedicated to him, such as: the Kunstmuseum in Lucerne (1973), Kunsthalle in Basel (1979), Musée de Grenoble (1980), Musée National d’Art Moderne – Centre Pompidou in Paris (1985), Centro Galego de Arte Contemporanea in Santiago de Compostela (1995), Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago (1997), Academie de France à Rome (2001), MAMbo (2006) and Kunstmuseum Winterthur (2013). His most recent works include Particolare (2019) for the Institute of the Italian Encyclopedia and the installation Dove le stelle si avvicinano di una spanna in più (2021) for the gardens of La Venaria Reale, Turin. He passed away at almost 90 years old in Turin in 2023.
