Italian artist Concetto Pozzati dies at 81 in Bologna

Concetto Pozzati, a leading figure in Italian contemporary art, died on August 1, 2017, at his home in Bologna at age 81 after a long illness. Born in 1935 in Vo', Padua, he studied in Bologna and Paris, and was a painter, teacher, and educator. His career included five participations in the Venice Biennale (first in 1964, last in 2009) and documenta in Kassel in 1964. He served as Bologna's culture councillor from 1993 to 1996, where he initiated the Manifattura delle Arti project. He taught at the Academies of Fine Arts of Urbino and Venice, a chair later inherited by Emilio Vedova. In 1998 he directed the Casa di Mantegna in Mantua. He exhibited internationally at the Tokyo Biennale, Paris Biennale, Palazzo Grassi, and the Rome Quadriennale. In 2014 he received the Targa Volponi from Casa dei Pensieri. His early informal, gestural style evolved into a new figuration with Pop-Art influences. The MAMbo museum in Bologna, which held a major exhibition of his work in 2015-2016, remembered his contributions as a founding board member who helped acquire over 400 works on paper in 1984 and 30 additional works for the permanent collection. His funeral was held on August 3 at the Archiginnasio.