Italian artist Umberto Bignardi dies at 86

Umberto Bignardi, a key figure in 1960s Italian experimental art, died on January 22, 2022, at his home-studio in Milan, surrounded by his partner Silvia and their two daughters. Born in Bologna in 1935, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome under Toti Scialoja, where he met Pino Pascali and Jannis Kounellis. Bignardi's work evolved from gestural abstraction to Pop and expanded cinema, exemplified by his 1965 Fantavisore and Prismobile, and the 1967 Rotor installation shown at Galleria L'Attico. He participated in landmark shows such as "Fuoco Immagine Acqua Terra" (1967) and "IM-SPAZIO" at La Bertesca, curated by Germano Celant. After moving to Milan in the 1970s, he worked as artistic director for Olivetti and IBM, distancing himself from the art system. A major retrospective curated by Laura Cherubini at Sapienza University in the 1990s revived interest in his work. Bignardi's legacy includes his systematic exploration of image, movement, and perception, bridging painting, cinema, and installation.