"Fontana’s work is an expression of both calm and upheaval."
Heinz Mack
In the late 1950s a close communication developed between the art scenes of Milan and Düsseldorf. Its driving forces were Piero Manzoni and Heinz Mack. The cities’ artists were linked in their shared desire to find a new kind of art. They literally wanted to place a full stop. New industrial materials took the place of canvas and oils. Artistic means were now light and movement in space. A new object art emerged to activate its viewers.
The artists of the Düsseldorf group ZERO (Heinz Mack, Otto Piene and Günther Uecker) saw Lucio Fontana as both forerunner and colleague. Fontana, for his part, supported the young German artists – also through smaller purchases. He launched the exhibition zeroAvantgarde in his studio in 1965, before it toured various Italian cities with 29 artists.
From the young artists’ point of view, Fontana freed art from all personal expression. Instead of painting a space or a body, Fontana worked with space and the body itself – using unusual techniques to do so.
