Piero Dorazio

'Intermingling light and shadow envelope my life.' Piero Dorazio

About Piero Dorazio's Art

From parallel drawing forms, Dorazio arrives at a mesh structure of stripes and bars. Water and its reflections are a constant source of inspiration to him, which serves as an initial spark of an impressionist moment which captures his visions and reductions. In the 70=s he begins creating his works based on wide bands of color which progressively splinter into partially broken lines, or gather, as in his works from the 90=s, into arch-shaped dispersions and dissolving lines, spirals, perpendiculars and especially sober, perfectly horizontal gradations.

Dorazio's paintings also have a place for light and color, without their seeming metaphorical. In 1945-46, he had attended the great Italian poet, Guiseppe Ungaretti's poetry readings in Rome, and they remained friends until the poet's death. This was only one of Dorazio's many friendships with other artists. A look at Dorazio's biography will show that, for him, meeting artists and intellectuals of his time was of great significance. Piero Dorazio lived somewhat on this networking concept, and he was a vividly involved reflector of art, not only through his own artwork, but also through his writings as an art reporter beginning in 1948 on a variety of topics. He was also a co-founder of several artists groups and, whenever possible, created forums for art. In order to delve more deeply, we shall investigate his activities from the early beginnings. His encounters with artists from all over the world appear, when viewed as a whole, as if he were at the center of a teeming beehive.

It all began with the 'Arte Sociale' group, cofounded in 1946 by Dorazio, Buratti, Guerrini, Muccini, Perilli and Vespignani, and then one thing led to another, as the course of Dorazio's life shows. As far as his oeuvre is concerned, painting stands as the centerpiece. In 1952 he creates his first white woodcuts. Only in 1955 does Dorazio return to painting. At the Venice Biennials of 1956 and 1960, he presented monochrome and then structurally organized paintings. In 1958 he begins to incorporate his first fine gridworks. His painting underwent change after change. After the Documenta II art fair in Kassel, Germany, he stayed in Paris for a time.

Dorazio was also active in art education: he directed a studio for experimental ceramic, taught at the Positano Art Workshop (1956); From 1960-70 he was a guest professor, and then professor at the Graduate School of Fine Arts in Philadelphia; ran a studio in phases in New York and from 1964-1969, gave lectures in the USA at various universities and institutes. After 1977, two decades of intensive exhibiting in museums and highly regarded galleries followed. He became president of the Art Club of the International Society of Italian Artists in 1996. In the same year the catalogue raisonné was published: Piero Dorazio: The Graphic Works, 1962-1995, Volume I: The Etchings.

Dorazio compares his art to music. In it, he sees the melodies and rhythms, the sounds and reverberations, the organization and the phenomenon of the immaterial.