(Florence 1940–1971 Rome)
“Intersuperficie curva rossa”, 1967, titled, signed, Paolo Scheggi 1967 on the reverse, red acrylic on superimposed canvases, 80 x 80 x 6 cm, on stretcher, (AR)

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The present work is in process of being registered by the Associazione Paolo Scheggi, Milan and will be included in the forthcoming publication of the catalogue raisonné of the Work by Paolo Scheggi curated by Luca Massimo Barbero.

Provenance:
Galleria d’arte Niccoli, Parma (stamp on the reverse)
Private Collection, Parma
European Private Collection

Literature:
Franca Scheggi, Giuseppe Niccoli, Paolo Scheggi, exh. cat. of the exhibition held at Niccoli Arte Moderna Gallery, Parma 20 November 2010 – 26 February 2011, pp. 76 – 77, with ill.
© Paolo Scheggi/SIAE

Paolo [Scheggi] and I set off for Düsseldorf, rather than Frankfurt, Cologne, Amsterdam or Antwerp. And the unexpected encounters we had during those visits to museums and galleries, and studios of artist friends, were also pleasant interludes: Gianni Colombo might have been in those places too, or perhaps Getulio Alviani, or Marcello Morandini, or […]. We were friends, to the extent of passing information that could be of interest to one or the other; exchanging job opportunities, among fellow adventurers in that “movement” that would take the name of Nuove Tendenze. [...] and we also engaged in heated disputes.
(Agostino Bonalumi, Milan, December 2010)

Intersuperficie curva rossa, 1967, belongs to the cycle of works the artist called Intersuperfici, that is, monochrome works characterised by three superimposed canvases with openings of various shapes and forms, which cause viewers to lose themselves in the sequence of holes that multiply through the layers, absorbing the beholder into a spatio-temporal dimension that merges object, subject, and the environment into a unity. The creation of these complex spaces meant that Scheggi could explore the counterpoint of perception and spatial interpretation, a dynamic that is masterfully displayed in the present work, where the multiple levels create a balanced composition that draws the viewer into its intricate oval spaces.
The intricate play of light between each surface creates depth inducing shadows and partial eclipses within each hole, adding a dynamism to the canvas that belies its seemingly static nature as a monochromatic surface.
There are no distractions within this architectural work characterised by a uniform, bright red colour. The importance of the dialogue between artistic and architectural investigation is written in Scheggi’s genes, as it were, since his native Florence was the cradle of humanist and Renaissance research concerning foreshortening and space. In 1964, two years after he moved to Milan, he was invited to join the Collegio Lombardo degli Architetti and write about the concept of “total planning” (cf. I. Bignotti in “Paolo Scheggi: dall’Intersuperficie all’Intercamera. L’opera oltre la parete, al di là del muro: per vivere uno spazio, per agire il tempo”).
Scheggi’s research is perfectly in keeping with the work of the artists whose revolutions animate the city of Milan and the history of Italian art precisely in those years. Whilst Fontana opted for holes and slits, Manzoni for his white Achromes, Castellani and Bonalumi with their shaped canvas with nails, Scheggi chose to investigate depth, full and empty spaces within the canvas, challenging the dynamics of perception and finding his own way of taking the possibilities of supporting materials to extremes. Just like his fellow artists, he goes beyond figurative and abstract conceptions, pursuing an idea of art as experimentation, as concrete and spatial realities, and of the work of art as “object”.