(Castelmassa, Italy, 1930 – Viterbo, Italy, 2017)
Enrico Castellani studied at the École Nationale Supérieure in Belgium, where he earned a degree in painting and architecture. A key figure in post-war European art, Castellani is best known for his radical approach to painting, which challenged the traditional limits of the medium and laid the groundwork for new conceptual and spatial explorations.
In 1959, Castellani co-founded the gallery Azimut and the associated journal Azimuth alongside Piero Manzoni, helping to catalyze the Zero movement in Italy. His signature works, known as Superfici (Surfaces), involve the rhythmic stretching and puncturing of monochromatic canvases using nails and a wooden substructure. These sculptural surfaces play with light and shadow, engaging the viewer’s perception and transforming the flat canvas into a dynamic field of spatial and temporal vibrations.
Castellani’s formal restraint and monochrome palette connect him to Minimalism and Conceptualism, yet his work maintains a unique sensibility grounded in meditative repetition and architectural order. Rather than depict form, Castellani's pieces become form themselves—reflecting a desire to strip painting of narrative and gesture in favor of pure structure and sensation.
Among his most iconic works is Superficie bianca (White Surface), a piece that exemplifies his lifelong exploration of space, light, and material tension. In its subtle topography, the canvas shifts between presence and absence, inviting viewers to consider not what is seen, but how it is seen.
Enrico Castellani lived and worked in Celleno, Italy, until his death in 2017.
