Valentino Vago (1931 – 2018) was one of the most original interpreters of his generation. The artistic research that he has cultivated and enriched in over sixty years of work focuses on light and on the impressions he generates on the canvas through the skilful use of color.
Vago’s artistic career opens in the Sixties, with the work Black Line (1964) and the first Horizons (1964-1965). His works were exhibited at the Galleria Annunciata in Milan, included in the Painting ’70 exhibition curated by Francesco Bartoli, Renzo Beltrame and Vittorio Fagone and presented at the XI Bienal Sao Paulo in 1971. That experience marks the beginnings of the international career of the painter, who sees his works exhibited in Paris, Belgrade and Lisbon. Starting from the Eighties, Vago’s artistic research expands towards the architectural space. In 1980 he painted three rooms on a tonal scale in Palazzo Reale, Milan, creating a temporary habitable work presented by Renato Barilli, while in 1982 he worked on the church of San Giulio in Barlassina, painting it entirely in blue. During the 1990s and 2000s, the artist carried out interventions in Monza, San Donato Milanese, Rome and Rovello Porro; at the same time the international artistic activity continues, which sees the painter involved in 2008 in the construction of a church in Doa in Qatar designed by the Milanese architects Magnoli and Carmellini.

In 2012 the Academicians of San Luca recommended Valentino Vago, who was awarded the President of the Republic Award in the same year.

Gallery Exhibition

M77 is pleased to present Presence, an exhibition project dedicated to the artist Valentino Vagocurated by Alberto Salvadori.

The exhibition is rooted in the concept of presence in painting, one of the founding elements of Vago’s artistic practice. In his incessant search for pure light and for pushing beyond the sphere of the visible through painting, the artist has constantly nourished and enriched his creative drive, often going beyond the limits of the canvas and creating true environmental pieces.

The exhibition, conceived for the gallery spaces, is divided into two large immersive rooms and covers Vago’s artistic production from the 1970s to 2010. The artworks that make up the exhibition are contextualised in reference to painting as a physical presence, which for the artist invests both the surface of the canvas and the exhibition space itself, which becomes its extension.

Presence will be open to the public from Tuesday 12 April to Saturday 18 June 2022.