Mario Schifano biography
- MARIO SCHIFANO ARTIST
Mario Schifano, born in Homs, a city of Italian Libya, in 1934, and passed away in Rome in 1998, was a Italian artist of great importance in the national and international scene of the Sixties.
Painter, director, and musician, he established himself as a versatile, rebellious, and exuberant figure, often associated with the Italian and European Pop art movement alongside other important artists such as Franco Angeli and Tano Festa. His personality was marked by a worldly life and prolonged drug use, factors that earned him the nickname "cursed artist".
After returning from Libya, Mario Schifano settled in Rome, where he approached art thanks to his father's experience, a restorer at the Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia. Initially influenced by Informal Art, his style evolved towards monochromatic painting, characterized by the application of papers and letters over the entire surface of the canvas. This period is marked by the artist's affirmation in the art scene and the winning of prestigious awards such as the Lissone Prize in 1961.
Contact with American Pop Art during a trip to the United States led him to explore new themes and styles, and upon returning to Italy, he founded the band "Le Stelle di Mario Schifano", embracing the world of music and forging relationships with the Rolling Stones. His art also drew inspiration from mass communication culture, using logos and advertising brands as subjects of his works. Emblematic in this sense are the series "Le Propagande", in which he reproduces logos of famous brands such as Coca-Cola and Esso, thus emphasizing the popularity of commonly used images.
The Seventies and Eighties were characterized by a phase of experimentation and interest in multimedia. Mario Schifano dedicated himself to photography and used the computer to create works that he then transferred onto emulsion canvases, calling them "computerized canvases". This passion for technological innovation led him to use screenprint to produce series works, in line with the Pop Art ideal of reproducibility. Among the most famous works of this period are the "TV Landscapes", in which Mario Schifano captures still images of television scenes with psychedelic colors superimposed on black and white, highlighting the contrast between reality and the media image. This series testifies to his interest in media and television, a source of inspiration for the creation of his works.
Despite artistic success, the artist's life was marked by problems related to drug addiction, which led to repeated convictions and periods in prison and detox clinics. Only in 1997, thanks to the intervention of his lawyer Attilio Maccarrone, did he obtain judicial reinstatement for possession of drugs for personal use.
Mario Schifano's death, at age 63 due to a heart attack, closed an extraordinarily prolific and versatile artistic career. His contribution to the Italian and international art scene is evidenced by numerous works exhibited in the most important Italian museums, and the foundation bearing his name is dedicated to preserving and protecting his vast artistic heritage. Mario Schifano, with his eccentric character and provocative spirit, remains an iconic figure of contemporary art, a "puma painter" with a unique and unmistakable style who left a lasting mark on the global art scene. His desire to experiment and his ability to anticipate cultural trends, combined with his passion for a worldly life and multimedia, make him still today an artist of great relevance and importance.