Sergio Dangelo, co-founder of Nuclear Art movement, dies at 89

Sergio Dangelo, a prolific Italian artist and co-founder of the Movimento Arte Nucleare, has died at 89, just before his 90th birthday on April 19. Born in Milan in 1932, he studied in Italy, Switzerland, and France before moving to Brussels, where he engaged with surrealists and the Cobra group. In 1951, with Enrico Baj, he launched the Nuclear Art movement, reacting to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Their manifesto rejected all 'isms' and academic painting, attracting members like Joe Colombo, Gianni Dova, Piero Manzoni, and Franco Palumbo. In 1957, Dangelo co-signed the 'Manifesto against style' with Baj, Yves Klein, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Giò Pomodoro, Pierre Restany, Manzoni, Paolo Pasotto, and Arman, declaring the end of nuclear art. His iconic 'Hand-made' works, named by Marcel Duchamp in 1960, assembled diverse materials like wood, nails, hemp, buttons, cardboard, plastic, stoneware, glass, ceramics, and various paints. Dangelo participated in the Venice Biennale six times (1958, 1964, 1966 with a solo room, 1972, 1980, 1986), as well as the Paris and São Paulo Biennales, Milan Triennale, and Rome Quadriennale (1986). His works are held in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome, Casa Museo Boschi Di Stefano in Milan, Museo d'Arte Contemporanea di Lissone, and MAGA Museo Arte Gallarate.