Gilberto Zorio

The sculptures and installations of Gilberto Zorio (Andorno Micca, Biella, 1944) are unending fields of energy and matter in transformation. Among the pioneers of Arte Povera, he has made a radical contribution to the history of art with his revolutionary and experimental work.

From the mid-1960s, Zorio has investigated processes that make each work continually mutable, renewing the language of sculpture and freeing it from the fixity and heaviness with which it is traditionally associated. Activating chemical and physical reactions and embracing the dimensions of sound, air and space, Zorio sees his works as part of an organic cycle, of which he himself is a spectator. Time is often an important component—only the natural passage of hours and days makes the transformations of the works fully tangible. Zorio’s method is to imagine each exhibition as a blank page, full of new possibilities. This show at Castello di Rivoli presents over fifty years of his artistic research in an intentionally dense and non-chronological development. On view are some of his most important works, including historical installations that the artist has jealously guarded in his own private collection, and a group of drawings of some unrealized projects. These rare pieces are presented alongside works selected from various collections and new site-specific installations conceived by Zorio especially for the Castello. Combining feasible future technologies with ancient knowledge, Zorio uses his alchemical wisdom to create visions of light and dark that envelop visitors in a sensory experience.

[Gilberto Zorio, Odio (Hate), 1971. Foto: Paolo Mussat Sartor]