Giovanni Anselmo was born in Borgofranco d’Ivrea in 1934 and approached painting as a self-taught artist. In 1967, he began displaying his works at major Arte Povera events and, in 1968, held his first solo exhibition at Galleria Sperone in Turin. Towards the late 1970s, he debuted on the international art scene with participations in acclaimed exhibitions, including Prospect ‘68, Düsseldorf (1968); When Attitudes Become Form, Bern (1969); Conceptual Art – Arte Povera – Land Art, Turin (1970). He participated in the Venice Art Biennale in 1978, 1980, and 1990; at the 1990 edition, he was awarded the Golden Lion for Painting. His works are showcased in numerous public national and international galleries, including the GAM in Turin, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and the S.M.A.K in Ghent.

– title: Il panorama intorno fin verso oltremare

– date: 1996-1999

– medium: installation, blue pigment and stone

– size: environment

– description: In response to an invitation to the Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue exhibition held in 1999, Giovanni Anselmo submitted his site-specific artwork entitled Il panorama intorno fin verso oltremare. This installation envisaged a blue coloured strip and a block of granite, representing a connection between the sky and the earth. Its cornerstone lay precisely in the theme of the blue colour and in the strenuous pursuit of ‘something or somewhere beyond’, which was a distinctive feature of the artist’s exploration from his initial period up to the very end of his artistic career. Drawing on one of the exhibition sections (something blue), Anselmo pinpointed a wall of Casa Masaccio and laid a coat of paint based on a deep blue pigment, traditionally known as ‘ultramarine’ (which literally means ‘beyond the sea’). The name of this precious pigment derives from the lapis lazuli ground to produce it, which in ancient times were imported to Europe from faraway lands – from lands ‘beyond the sea’. Conceptually, the blue colour gave the artist the opportunity to erase any space or time reference, paving the way toward the infinite, and even beyond. Mentally, beyond the walls, searching for an undefined ‘somewhere else’, the work suggests a direction, at a drive to probe inexplorable places.