Grazia Varisco (born 1937 in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

) is an Italian visual artist and designer. Varisco attended the

Brera Academy The Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera ("academy of fine arts of Brera"), also known as the or Brera Academy, is a state-run tertiary public academy of fine arts in Milan, Italy. It shares its history, and its main building, with the Pinacoteca di ...

of Fine Arts in Milan from 1956 to 1960, where she was a student of Achille Funi. In 1960 she joined Giovanni Anceschi, Davide Boriani, Gianni Colombo and Gabriele De Vecchi's kinetic art and op art Gruppo T, with whom she participated in exhibitions such as 'Arte Programmata' (Milan, 1962), ' Nouvelle tendance' (Zagreb, 1963) and the 'Miriorama' series (Milan, Genoa, Tokyo, Rome, Padua and Venice, 1960–63). Between 1961 and 1967 she worked as a graphic designer for the multinational retailer

La Rinascente (La) Rinascente (; ) is a collection of high-end stores with Italian and international brands in fashion, accessories, beauty, homeware, design and food. It operates eleven stores in Italy, including its general headquarters in Milan and two fl ...

, the architecture and design magazine

Abitare ''Abitare'', published monthly in Milan, Italy, is one of the world's best known design magazines. It was first published in 1961. History and profile ''Abitare'' was launched in Milan in 1961 by Piera Peroni. The magazine was published monthly. ...

, the design company

Kartell Kartell is an Italian company that makes and sells plastic contemporary furniture. It is headquartered in Noviglio, Metropolitan City of Milan, Italy, and it is a subsidiary of Felofin. History The company began manufacturing automobile access ...

, and the Milan City Council. Varisco is considered one of the few female artists involved in the op art movement together with Edna Andrade,

Bridget Riley Bridget Louise Riley (born 24 April 1931) is an English painter known for her op art paintings. She lives and works in London, Cornwall and the Vaucluse in France. Early life and education Riley was born on 24 April 1931 in Norwood, Londo ...

and

Vera Molnár Vera Molnár (born 1924) is a Hungarian media artist living and working in France. Molnar is widely considered to be a pioneer of computer art and generative art, and is also one of the first women to use computers in her art practice. Born in ...

. Her work has been featured in many international exhibitions, including the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

(1964, 1986 and 2022), the

Rome Quadriennale The Rome Quadriennale (Italian: ''Quadriennale di Roma'', also called in English the ''Rome Quadrennial'') is a foundation for the promotion of contemporary Italian art. Its name derives from the four-yearly exhibitions it is required to host by ...

(1973), the Toyama Triennale (1990); 'Force Fields: Phases of the Kinetic’ (Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona and

Hayward Gallery The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London, England and part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings (the R ...

, London, 2000); 'Beyond Geometry' (

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 19 ...

and at the

Pérez Art Museum Miami The Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM)—officially known as the Jorge M. Pérez Art Museum of Miami-Dade County—is a contemporary art museum that relocated in 2013 to the Museum Park in Downtown Miami, Florida. Founded in 1984 as the Center for t ...

, 2004) and 'Op Art' (

Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt The Schirn Kunsthalle is a Kunsthalle in Frankfurt, Germany, located in the old city between the Römer and the Frankfurt Cathedral. The Schirn exhibits both modern and contemporary art. It is the main venue for temporary art exhibitions in Fr ...

, 2007). From 1981 to 2007 she was Professor of Theory of Perception at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts. In 2007 the President of Italy Giorgio Napolitano awarded her the 'Presidente della Repubblica Prize for Sculpture' in Rome.

Selected exhibitions

*2017: ''Grazia Varisco: Allineamenti scorrevoli ricorrenti'',

Triennale The Triennale di Milano is a design and art museum in the Parco Sempione in Milan, in Lombardy in northern Italy. It is housed in the Palazzo dell'Arte, which was designed by Giovanni Muzio and built between 1931 and 1933; construction was fi ...

Museum,

*2015: ''Grazia Varisco: Filo Rosso 1960–2015'', Cortesi Gallery,

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

, Switzerland *2014: ''If… Works 1959–2014'', Volker Diehl Gallery,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

*2013: ''Grazia Varisco: With a Restless Gaze'', Ritter Museum,

Waldenbuch Waldenbuch ( Swabian: ''Waldebuech'') is a town in the district of Böblingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the home of the popular Ritter Sport brand of chocolate. Geography Geographical location Waldenbuch is situated at an altitude ...

, Germany *2012: ''Ghosts in the Museum'', New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York *2007: ''Op Art'',

*2005: ''L'oeil moteur: Art optique e cinétique 1950–1975'', Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Strasbourg *2005: ''Gli ambienti del Gruppo T: Le origini dell'arte interattiva'', National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome *2000: ''Beyond Geometry: Experiments in forms 1940s to 1970s'', Los Angeles County Museum and Miami Art Museum (now

) *2000: ''Force Fields: Phases of the Kinetic'',

Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art The Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art ( ca, Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, , MACBA) is a contemporary art museum situated in the Plaça dels Àngels, in El Raval, Ciutat Vella, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The museum opened to the publ ...

and Hayward Gallery,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Bibliography

* Gillo Dorfles, ''Grazia Varisco 1960/1976'', 1976, Edizioni del Naviglio, Milan *Giovanni Maria Accame, ''Grazia Varisco 1958/2000'', 2001, Edizioni Maredarte, Bergamo *Jacqueline Ceresoli, ''Grazia Varisco: Se guardo ascolto lo spazio'', 2006,

Skira The festival of the Skira ( grc, Σκίρα) or Skirophoria ( grc, Σκιροφόρια) in the calendar of ancient Athens, closely associated with the Thesmophoria, marked the dissolution of the old year in May/June. Description At Athens, t ...

, Milan *Giorgio Verzotti and Elisabetta Longari, ''Grazia Varisco: Se...'', 2012, Edizioni Mazzotta, Milan, *Hsiaosung Kok and Francesco Tedeschi, ''Grazia Varisco: Mit rastlosem Blick'', 2013, Ritter Museum, Waldenbuch, *Michele Robecchi, ''Grazia Varisco: If (1960–2015)'', 2015, Mousse Publishing, Milan

References

External links

Webpage of the Ritter Museum

Wikiart's page on Grazia Varisco and her work
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varisco, Grazia 1937 births Living people 20th-century Italian painters 21st-century Italian painters 20th-century Italian women artists 21st-century Italian women artists Italian contemporary artists Italian women painters Op art Academic staff of Brera Academy Brera Academy alumni Olivetti people