Giancarlo Pozzi Biography
Giancarlo Pozzi was born in 1938 in Castellanza where he still lives and works today. He began painting at a very young age and worked in various professions: carpenter, model maker, fabric designer. In 1961 he entered the laboratory of the art publisher Giorgio Upiglio as a copperplate printer, where he had the opportunity to work side by side with internationally renowned artists such as Giacometti, Lam, Alekinsky, Baj and later also Marini, Fontana, Vedova, de Chirico and many others. In this period he became one of the most important specialists in etching and lithography. With her painter friends Bianchi, Luraschi, Simonetta founded the group "NO! 1963" which was ahead of its time, demonstrating a social unease which would soon lead to student protests throughout Europe. The group of which Pozzi is part, made up of young artists, a sensitive part of humanity, acts as spokesperson for the problems of a society rapidly moving towards technology and automation; which on the one hand bring benefits and comfort to daily life, but on the other risk leading to the numbness of human ingenuity and the isolation of the individual. The works of this period (belonging to the "Flying Carcasses" 1964 cycle) show in this sense a great pessimism: plant and animal carcasses, a symbol of profound disappointment and mistrust towards man and his intervention on nature. These are also the years of the great journey through Europe with Upiglio. With the pictorial cycle begun around 1967, Pozzi turns youthful negativity towards nature into a choral form in which the fate of humanity depends on the fate of the latter. The natural forms become a means of comparison with Pozzi's graphic sign: the line follows the progression of the rocks, the plant masses, the flight of birds and insects. His works are exhibited in international exhibitions in Montevideo, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Havana, Tokyo, Prague and many other parts of the world. In 1970 he married Ausilia Colombo and in '72 the decision to dedicate himself exclusively to the work of a painter: the house in Castellanza became his only atelier, except for some collaborations with the Upiglio studio. In '73 her daughter Sara was born: nature is also a little girl with laughing eyes. For her he created a series of paintings: "Toys for Sara". His work receives the approval of not only Italian but also foreign critics. In 1972 he was invited to the XXXVI Venice Biennale. In '77, presented by M. Carrà, he exhibited at the Galleria Borgogna in Milan. His engravings illustrate texts by Luigi Cavallo, Roberto Sanesi, Osvaldo Patani, Raffaele Carrieri, Josè Angel Valente, Rabindranath Tagore, Archibald McLeish, Marcello Staglieno, Ardengo Soffici, Alda Merini, Leopoldo Verona; manifestation of Pozzi's great love for poetry and poets. In 1980 Anthological exhibition at the Civic Gallery of Modern Art in Gallarate with presentation by Raffaele Carrieri. In '81 he created the book: "Il bestiario dell'Alpe" presented in Milan at the Natural History Museum, born from a diary that Pozzi kept (and in which he sketched images of animals and noted impressions and sensations) during a stay in his chalet in Gressoney, between mountains, woods and nature. In 1982, he traveled to Canada and the United States, followed by a pictorial cycle dedicated to these countries. In 1984 he left for Cape Verde, where he had a shocking human experience and was strongly struck by the nature of the place and the extreme poverty and dignity of the population. Here he painted with his friend Luraschi, an altarpiece in the small church of Padre Gesualdo in San Nicolao, using as colors the earths pounded in the mortar and the natural pigments that the island offered. In '89 he traveled to Morocco which was followed by a series of works inspired by this country and presented in '90 at the Ghiggini Gallery in Varese. The Journey to China (1993) brings a renewal to Pozzi's painting and ceramics. Relationships with oriental culture are manifested, considered as an expressive possibility for new creative experiences. In the same year, four of his original books were exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York. In '95 vast anthology at Villa Pomini in Castellanza, presentation by Luigi Cavallo, catalog Ediz. Mazzotta. In '98 he exhibited in Japan, China, Malaysia, Mexico and Finland, some drawings and engravings entered the collection of the Boiman Van Beuningen museum in Rotterdam (Holland). In 2000 his donation to the Municipality of Castellanza was presented at Villa Pomini. It is also the year of the solo exhibition at the Galleria Borgogna in Milan to present his book of original graphics: "Journey not done in Bhutan" which will become a traveling exhibition. In 2002 fifteen engravings became part of the collection of the Prints Cabinet of the British Museum (London), while in 2003 he held a solo show at Villa Recalcati (Varese). Other solo exhibitions in 2005: "Diario di Viaggi" at the Pagani Museum of Contemporary Art in Castellanza and "Le Voyage de Giancarlo" at the Espace nouveau Vallon in Geneva. In 2006 he visited India and in the same year organized the personal exhibition "Portapoesia" at the Ghiggini Gallery in Varese, with the works created after the trip to Ethiopia in 2005. He has 94 personal exhibitions to his credit in Italy and abroad . He has also executed large-scale works in mosaic, stained glass, ceramic and bronze for public and private buildings. His works appear in important museums in Italy and abroad.
