Guido Strazza: A Life Devoted to the Sign

Guido Strazza, born in 1922 in Bagnore, a hamlet of Santa Fiora on the slopes of Monte Amiata, recounts his artistic journey in an interview. With a degree in civil engineering, he dedicated his life to art, focusing on the sign as the primary graphic element. His interest in art began in childhood, but his serious commitment started in 1941 when he met Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, who invited him to the 1942 Venice Biennale, where he exhibited an aeropainting now lost to war. Marinetti became his mentor, instilling the Futurist concepts of speed, dynamism, and the sign as a dynamic becoming. In 1957, Strazza met Lucio Fontana in Milan, whose cuts on canvas deeply impressed him, influencing his idea of the sign as a wound in matter. Strazza's cycle 'I segni di Roma' (1982) pays homage to Piranesi, whose revolutionary engraving techniques he studied at the Calcografia, home to about 2,000 of Piranesi's plates. For Strazza, the sign is a gesture that traverses space in an instant, the appearance of the world, carrying the trace of gesture and violence. He continues to work, preparing his catalogue raisonné of engravings curated by Giuseppe Appella, soon to be published by the Calcografia, and reflects on preparing for his end.