(21 March 2017) “Erasure is not a simple negation, but rather an affirmation of new meanings. It is the transformation of a negative sign into a positive one”. With his practice of erasure, Isgrò has radically transformed this contemporary art practice. In spite of those who see erasure as a gesture of cancellation or annihilation, Isgrò’s work goes beyond this notion, becoming a useful theory for the investigation of reality, a philosophical tool with with to interpret it, and a language with which to describe it. Fifty years after his first erasure’, a selection of Isgrò’s work will be showcased in an exhibition at the Italian Cultural Institute in Paris. These works challenge, in a paradoxical way, the themes of censorship and intolerance, featuring large portraits of Girolamo Savonarola and Galileo Galilei. The exhibition titled “Emilio Isgrò: Erasure cancels out censorship” (Title in Italian: ‘Emilio Isgrò: la cancellatura annulla la censura”) organised by the Italian Cultural Institute of Paris in collaboration with Galerie Tornabuoni Art and the Emilio Isgrò Archive, opens on March 27 at 19:00 and will remain open until April 5th. The artist and critic Marco Bazzini will be present at the vernissage.
