Contemporary Art Criticism, Interviews, Essays and Visual Politics
Mario Deluigi was an Italian postwar artist and one of the most distinctive figures associated with Spatialism. Active in Venice, he developed a highly personal interpretation of the movement’s ideas, focusing less on physical penetration of the canvas and more on the relationship between light, colour, matter and perception.
Deluigi became especially known for his grattages, works created by scratching and removing parts of the painted surface. Through this process, light seems to emerge from within the work itself, producing rhythms, vibrations and spatial effects without relying on conventional perspective. His practice demonstrates how Spatialism could develop through subtraction and luminosity rather than through the perforations and cuts associated with Lucio Fontana.
His work occupies an important position within Italian postwar art, connecting Spatialist research with the Venetian tradition of light and colour while also anticipating broader investigations into surface, material and perception. Deluigi’s contribution is particularly significant for understanding how diverse the artistic languages grouped under Spatialism could be.
This tag gathers articles, critical essays and references related to Mario Deluigi, his grattages, his role in Spatialism and his place within the wider history of Italian postwar art.
Gianni Dova with Roberto Crippa, Tancredi Parmeggiani and Carlo Cardazzo, 1952. Courtesy Gianni Dova Archive. Spatialism Has a Fontana Problem Lucio Fontana was the greatest artist to emerge from Spatialism. He may also be the
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