Gilberto Zorio (Andorno Micca, Biella, 1944) is one of the leading figures of Italian Arte Povera, the movement theorised by Germano Celant from the mid-1960s. Trained at the Accademia Albertina in Turin, where he still lives and works, he took part from the outset in the movement’s founding exhibitions — including the landmark When Attitudes Become Form at the Kunsthalle in Berne in 1969.
The constant thread of his practice is energy in its many forms: chemical, physical, luminous. Five-pointed stars, javelins, glass and lead alembics, laser beams, animal skins — Zorio’s materials do not represent energy; they contain and release it. His works transform over time through oxidation, evaporation and combustion, making the viewer a witness to a living process. He participated in the Venice Biennale in 1978, 1980, 1986 and 1995, and in Documenta Kassel. His works are held at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, Tate Modern in London, the MAXXI in Rome and the Dia Art Foundation in New York.
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