Osvaldo Barbieri Biography
Osvaldo Barbieri, known by the pseudonym Bot, was born in Piacenza on 17 July 1895. From a young age, he demonstrated an interest in creativity and invention. His studies took him to Milan, where he studied decorative disciplines at the Società Umanitaria and at the Brera Academy. In 1928, he approached the second Futurism, feeling attracted by the minds of Depero, Fillia and Prampolini. This movement, linked to fascist ideology, offered Bot the opportunity to find a new creative and inspirational drive. In 1929, he founded the Centrale del Futurismo in Piacenza, a period during which he felt free to explore, experiment, create, destroy and create again. This led to a rift between Marinetti and Bot in 1934, however Bot's artistic career was not slowed down. During his stay in Africa, the primitive, sincere and sometimes wild atmosphere, very distant from the West, was a source of new inspiration for the artist, with new points of view, ideas and mental images. Due to the war, he retreated to the countryside where he developed an unprecedented artistic style: he gave new life to landscapes, but in an ethereal way, with representations of ruined houses, figures and still lifes that create abstract atmospheres. After the war, he met Lucio Fontana in Albissola, and approached the world of ceramics and even poetry. He organized exhibitions and in 1951 he participated in the VI Quadrennial in Rome, also contributing to the creation of the chapel of Sant'Eufemia in Piacenza. Osvaldo Barbieri died in Piacenza in 1958.
