courtesy Mazzoleni, London-Torino
Zappettini in his studio, photo: Massimo V. Ronchi
Con-Centro no 28, 2019
courtesy Mazzoleni, London-Torino
Con-Centro no 103, 2018
courtesy Mazzoleni, London-Torino
Il codice degli dei no 35,
courtesy Mazzoleni, London-Torino
JG: The other series on display all have very profound symbolic meanings, yet the public is attracted by the works, almost as if this density of meaning acted like a magnet. And then, the aesthetic value of the works is also part of its force of attraction.
GZ: Yes, gold among its properties also has the attractive power of its beauty and shine. But aesthetics is not the ultimate goal I aim for when I work. I aim for the rightness of a work, its intrinsic balance. If a work is right, then it is also beautiful, and its aesthetic potential comes accordingly.
LM: Returning to the main theme of the exhibition, the Golden Age, I was intrigued by the series of the “Code of the Gods”. In front of me I found these square plates, more or less large, on which lines of a text are written which is incomprehensible to the common spectator. I wondered if the row fragments painted in gold have a meaning to decipher?
GZ: I can't answer you and I'll tell you why. The “Code of the Gods” alludes to a superhuman language, lost by men, bearer of very high knowledge. Let us not forget that in all traditions mankind is able to speak with its Creator: it is able through the prophets - who have a direct dialogue with the superhuman - and it is in the primordial age that follows the Creation, that of the so-called “earthly paradise”, which is precisely that Golden Age you are talking about. The artist has always played the role of the “vate”, poet or prophet, one who opens doors, who sees where mankind still cannot see. He therefore knows higher languages, incomprehensible to the viewer. So, I can't tell you if these works reproduce an underlying text or symbolize a mysterious and ancestral language: it would be like candidly admitting to have superior knowledge, I prefer to leave the viewer with the question pending.
courtesy Mazzoleni, London-Torino
LM: Then with Klaus Honnef a particular story joins it. Could you explain why?
GZ: It is the history of Analytical Painting. In the seventies Klaus set the theoretical cornerstones of that movement, which linked the research of artists scattered across the continent. The goal was to re-found the language of painting, because after the advent of Arte Povera and Conceptual Art in the 1960s, many still wondered the reason for the existence of painting, a discipline that seemed anachronistic. To Honnef, myself and to a handful of colleagues in Europe, it seemed evident that in reality painting only needed a deep analysis of its basic grammatical elements: what is colour really, what is the support, what is the process ... There were important group exhibitions on this theme, between Italy, Germany, Holland and France, to which Claude Viallat, Gotthard Graubner, Gerhard Richter with his grey monochromes were also invited. It was a underestimated but useful work, because the conditions were created for the great return of figuration to Europe in the late seventies to be accepted without scepticism. Painting cannot die, precisely because it is intrinsic to humankind as is the word. That's why in the last sixty years of my life I have done nothing but paint. Paint and look for myself, and I found that the two coincide. Then we remained friends with Klaus even if at a distance: we didn't see each other in Kassel's “documenta 6” in 1977: he was the curator of the painting section, I was one of the invited artists. This exhibition in London was an opportunity for us to meet again 43 years on – that’s news, isn't it?
Zappettini at work in his studio in 1975
courtesy Mazzoleni, London-Torino
Gianfranco Zappettini: The Golden Age is at Mazzoleni, London until 11 April 2020 - and you can take a virtual tour of the exhibition here
