Emilio Isgrò

Born on 1937 at Barcellona di Pozzo, Sicily, Emilio Isgrò lives and works in Milan. Conceptual artist and painter-­ but also poet, writer, dramaturge and director-­ Emilio Isgrò is considered one of the most internationally renowned and prestigious names of the Italian art scene of the XX and XXI century, together with Piero Manzoni and Lucio Fontana. Isgrò work can be considered among the most revolutionary and original within the so called Vanguardias of the year 60s. The Artist is the undisputed author of the ‘Cancellation (erasure technique)’ – the act of striking out the words of a printed book – something he began to explore in the early 1960s; Emilio Isgrò has made the ‘cancellation’ his poetic, although erasing is not to be considered as a metaphor in his practice, but as a actual action. He works on texts of real ‘covers’, transforming and renewing the meaning, without annihilating or destroying the value of the word or the image. As a pioneer of the ‘erasure’ of texts, encyclopedias, manuscripts, books, maps and even movie films, Emilio Isgrò has made his technique the essence of his research. He looks towards a sort of reverse reading and re-­interpretation of the language which, through various manipulations, goes from being verbal to being visual. As the Artist himself says: ”Erasures is not a simple negation, but instead it is the statement of new meanings: it is the transformation of a negative sign into a positive gesture”.  

Emilio Isgrò

Exhibitions

At M77:

Curated by: Claire Gilman

Date: 18/11/2023

- 16/03/2024

At M77:

Date: 06/10/2016

- 03/12/2016

Artworks

Ulysses according to Joyce

Year: 2023
Technique: mixed media on paper and golden erasure
Dimensions: 50 × 76 cm

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America

Year: 2023
Technique: mixed technique on canvas mounted on wood
Dimensions: 118 × 81 cm

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God

Year: 2011
Technique: acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 58 × 49,5 cm

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Pentateuco delle ombre

Year: 2006
Technique: acrylic on wood board
Dimensions: 46 × 58,5 cm

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Lettera F

Year: 1972
Technique: emulsified canvas
Dimensions: 73 × 56 cm

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Errore in Turchia

Year: 2010
Technique: acrylic on canvas mounted on wood board
Dimensions: 55 × 110 cm

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Mezza Figura

Year: 1995
Technique: acrylic on canvas mounted on board
Dimensions: 24 × 37 × 2 cm

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Italia

Year: 2024
Technique: acrylic on printed canvas mounted on wood
Dimensions: 85 × 85 cm

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Studio per cancellazione ottomana velata

Year: 2010
Technique: mixed media on paper
Dimensions: 44 × 32 cm

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Galileo

Year: 2009
Technique: mixed media on cardboard
Dimensions: 22 × 13 cm

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Modello evasivo

Year: 2013
Technique: mixed technique on paper
Dimensions: 67 × 50 cm

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Alain Robbe-Grillet: particolare ingrandito 807 volta

Year: 1973
Technique: emulsified canvas
Dimensions: 57,5 × 82,5 cm

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Where is Berlino?

Year: 2024
Technique: acrylic on globe in wood and plexiglass box
Dimensions: 49,5 × 34 × 34 cm

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Where is Nizza

Year: 2024
Technique: acrylic on globes in wooden and plexiglass box
Dimensions: 33 × 41,5 × 17,8 cm

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Paolo non voleva

Year: 2017
Technique: oil on canvas on board in plexiglass box
Dimensions: 72 × 49,5 cm

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Ship

Year: 2023
Technique: mixed media on canvas mounted on wooden panel
Dimensions: 148 × 118 cm

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Blu Napoleonico

Year: 1993
Technique: mixed media, book mounted on board
Dimensions: 44 × 51 cm

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Ante litteram, Pompeo

Year: 1972
Technique: ink on a typographic book in a wooden and plexiglass box
Dimensions: 40 × 60 × 10,7 cm

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Cavallo bianco

Year: 2025
Technique: aquatint and ink collé on paper
Dimensions: 59,8 × 50 cm

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Un solo oceano

Year: 2025
Technique: acrylic on woodboard
Dimensions: 69 × 109 cm

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Publications

Emilio Isgrò, a cura di Germano Celant, Treccani
Emilio Isgrò
Treccani (2019)
Isgrò, 2016 Palazzo Reale, Milano
Emilio Isgrò
Mondadori Electa (2017)
Modello Italia, 2013 GNAM, Roma
Emilio Isgrò. Modello Italia 2013-1964
Mondadori Electa (2013)
Emilio Isgrò, Dichiaro di essere Emilio Isgrò, 2008, Centro Luigi Pecci Prato
Dichiaro di essere Emilio Isgrò.
Centro Culturale per l'Arte Luigi Pecci (2008)
Emilio Isgrò, 2001 Cantieri della Zisa, Palermo
Emilio Isgrò
Cantieri della Zisa, Palermo (2001)

News

Emilio Isgrò. Canto Napoli
From April 10, in Naples, Emilio Isgrò’s cancellatura (erasure) engages with Neapolitan music for the first time. Twe…
Emilio Isgrò’s new book
On the occasion of Emilio Isgrò's solo show at Fondazione Cini, Treccani Arte published the most complete monography of …
Happy birthday Emilio!
Our beloved and multi-talented artist Emilio Isgró turns 82 today! We gather around him on this very special day to wish…
TALK: A partire da una sentenza
M77 Gallery is happy to invite you to a talk focused on the circulation of works of art entitled: "Starting from a sente…
M77 at Wopart, Lugano
Opening today Wopart, the international art fair dedicated to works on paper. We will be exhibiting a selection of works…
Emilio Isgrò at ArtBasel
Sanlorenzo partner of Art Basel in Basel 2018 confirms its special bond with the art world presenting at the prestigious…
Isgrò – Palazzo Reale
Milan celebrates Emilio Isgrò with a large-scale retrospective of his work. As a conceptual artist and painter, but also…