Biography

Born in Arenzano (GE) on 12 December 1945, Enzo Cacciola lives and works in Rocca Grimalda (AL). He held his first solo show in Genoa in 1971 at the Galleria La Bertesca, concentrating on the dynamics of plane-form-colour relations. But it was in 1973 that he began to experiment with alternative materials, creating the first material pieces focused on the surface and his linguistic data. In June 1975 he was at the exhibition “Pittura Analitica” (Analytical Painting) with concrete paintings capable of posing problems in relation to the space of analysis given by the materiality of the work. But it is from his participation in Documenta 6 (Kassel 1977) that a phase of discontinuity begins from the work carried out so far, starting with a total reinterpretation of the artist and his function. Since 1979 he has embarked on a journey that has led him to work and exhibit in Washington, Mexico City and Panama City.

In 1981 he took part in the exhibition “Pittura in Radice” (Root Painting) by Achille Bonito Oliva, confronting the themes of the Transavantgarde and opening up to figuration, perceived and rendered above all in conceptual terms. A further step in the direction of the interpenetration between figurative and conceptual is taken with the experience of “Shorty Memory Painting” (Milan, 1982) aimed at recording the incursions of the artist in some masterpieces of nineteenth and twentieth century art.1985 resumed research on matter by marking the rhythm of interiority on the score sign of the surface. In the mid-1990s he returned to conceptual painting, painting in which many of his past experiences have been settled and resolved: conceptual cement, the roughness of the surface, an unusual combination of matter and geometry that can make clear the algebraic and rational nature of reality. Currently, his experimentation is aimed at the use of new materials (especially designed for industrial use) where in the final work is present a continuous process of analytical research.

Main exhibitions

1969 XI Diomira Prize, Gian Ferrari Gallery, Milan. 1970 Proposte 70, Galleria La Bertesca, Genoa. 1971 Personal, La Bertesca Gallery, Genoa; Collective, Minimax von Bartha Gallery, Basel; Collective, Modulo Gallery, Milan; Visual research, La Bertesca Gallery, Genoa; Aluminium + Synthetic, Basel Progressive Museum, Basel; Graphic Experiences, Fine Arts Museum, Budapest. 1972 Personnel, Galleria von Bartha, Basel; Personnel, Galleria Kleber, Berlin; Personnel, Museum Janus Pannonius, Pecs; Perspectives 5 (curated by E. Crispolti and G. Di Genova), Gallery Il Grifo, Rome and Gallery La Bertesca, Genoa; Graphics Biennial, Museum Janus Pannonius, Pecs, VII biennial, Savet Umetnosti Galerije, Cacak. 1973 Solo exhibition, Holetczek Gallery, Freiburg; The golden Nightingale (curated by P. Bucarelli and G. de Marchis), Platres, Cyprus.
1974 Personal, Galleria La Bertesca, Milan; Grado Zero (curated by G. Cortenova), Galleria La Bertesca, Genoa and Düsseldorf and Galleria Due, Bologna. 1975 Personal, La Bertesca Gallery, Iki, Düsseldorf; Painting, Palazzo Ducale, Genoa; X Quadriennale, Rome; Empirica. L’arte tra addizione e sottrazione (curated by G. Cortenova), Museo di Castelvecchio, Verona and Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rimini; Analytische Malerei (curated by K. Honnef and C. Millet), Galleria La Bertesca, Düsseldorf; Concernig Painting (curated by L. Romain), Museo van Bommel van Dam, Venlo;
Collective, De Gestlo Gallery, Hamburg. 1976 Personal, La Bertesca Gallery, Düsseldorf;
Concernig Painting (curated by L. Romain), Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam, and Hedendaagse Kunst, Utrecht;Cronaca.  Educational path through American painting of the 60’s and European painting of the 70’s, Galleria Civica di Modena; Una situazione europea, Galleria Arnesen, Copenhagen; Ein Europäisches Moment, Galleria La Bertesca, Genoa; Druckgrafik aus Italien Stadtebund (edited by J. Matheson), Ausstellung des Kunstvereins für die Rheinland und Westfalen, Düsseldorf. 1977 Personal, Arnesen Gallery, Copenhagen; documenta 6, Kassel; La contraddizione del segno (edited by M. Vescovo), Gobetti Theatre, Turin; Collective, Nordenake Gallery, Malmö. 1978 Collective, Galleria Civica di Modena; L’appartamento del Doge, Palazzo Ducale, Genoa; Studio per una mostra, Palazzo Spinola, Genoa. 1979

Across the sea, Georgetown University, Washington. 1980 Personale, Galleria Pro Arte, Città del Messico; Personale, Museo Foro Cultural Contreras, Fonopas, Città del Messico; Non-realized projects (a cura di J. L. Diaz), Academia San Carlos de la Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico, Città del Messico; Pro-memoria (a cura di R. Bossaglia), Teatro del Falcone – Palazzo Reale, Genova. 1981 Personale, Galleria 80, Panama City; Lavori in corso (a cura di R. Bossaglia), Galleria civica, Bologna; Pittura in radice (a cura di A. Bonito Oliva), Galleria Artra, Milano, e Galleria Forma, Genova. 1982 Personale, Castello di Rapallo;  Il grande maquillage (a cura di V. Conti), Galleria Balestrini, Albissola;Pittura di corta memoria – Short Memory Painting (a cura di V. Conti), Palazzo della Permanente, Milano; Sette grandi tele (a cura di V. Conti), Galleria Balestrini, Albissola; Arteder 82, Bilbao. 1983 Critica ad arte (a cura di A. Bonito Oliva), Palazzo Lanfranchini, Pisa; Allarme nel sistema: un tilt romantico! (a cura di V. Conti), Castello di Portofino. 1984 Personale, Galleria C. Busi, Chiavari; Risonanze (a cura di V. Conti), Galleria C. Busi, Chiavari; L’occhio sull’immagine, Cala Fieschi, Sestri Levante. 1985  Personale, Studio Bonifacio, Genova; Pittura 70-80 (a cura di V. Conti e S. Ricaldone), Cala Fieschi, Sestri Levante. 1986 L’arte redenta (a cura di P. Casati), Complesso di S. Stefano, Bologna; I superrealisti e l’arte spirituale (a cura di G. P. Vincenzo), Galleria Peira Arte contemporanea, Bra;Isola d’arte – sculture all’aperto, Comune di Bra; Alta stagione (a cura di R. Caprari, J. Casati, M. Maggiani, S. Rescio), Doks Ponte Spinola,Genova e Palazzo del Parco, Bordighera e Castello di Portovenere. 1988 Personale, Galleria Peira Arte contemporanea, Bra. 1990 Personale, Studio d’arte contemporanea, Novara; Accumulazione, Studio d’arte contemporanea, Novara. 1996 Collettiva, Galleria von Bartha, Basilea. 1999 Due opere per artista Genovese 1960 – 2000, Fondazione Katinka Prini, Genova;
Artissima 1999, Andrea Contini Gallery, Turin.2003 Il sogno di Aleramo, Castello di Barolo, Barolo. 2004 Ovada Arte. International Panorama 1960-2000, La Loggia di San Sebastiano, Ovada; 2006 Personal (edited by C. Cerritelli), Zappettini Foundation, Chiavari. 2007 Dalla Pittura Analitica four protagonists – Enzo Cacciola, Paolo Cotani, Pino Pinelli, Gianfranco Zappettini (curated by G. Bonomi), Galleria 911, La Spezia e Arte Fiera Genova, Genoa; Personale (curated by E. Di Mauro), Fusion Art Gallery, Turin; Pittura Analitica – I percorsi italiani 1970 – 1980 (curated by M. Meneguzzo), Museo della Permanente, Milan. 2008 Arte ’70: Italian Analytical Painting (curated by S. Raimondi), Arte Fiera Bergamo, Bergamo; Analytical Painting. Yesterday and today (curated by G. Bonomi), Arte Fiera Genova, Genova; Pittura aniconica (curated by C. Cerritelli), Casa del Mantegna, Mantova; Cromatismi Uno, Galleria Arte Studio, Milan; Personale (M. Meneguzzo),  Fondazione Zappettini, Milan; Analytica (M. Meneguzzo), Annotazioni d’Arte, Milan, Arte Contemporanea in Giustiniana, Gavi; Pittura – Pittura e Abrazione – Arte e linguaggio negli anni ’70 (edited by F. Gualdoni and M. Romanini), Fondazione città di Cremona, Cremona. 2009 Le superfici opaache della Pittura Analitica (curated by A. Rigoni), Fondazione Zappettini, Chiavari; Personale, Enzo Cacciola Lavori 2008 – 1976, (curated by G. Bonomi), Galleria Varart Firenze; Pensare Pittura – Una linea internazionale di ricerca negli anni ’70, (texts by G. Gualdoni and M. Romanini), Fondazione città di Cremona, Cremona, Cremona. Bonomi, C. Cerritelli, M. Meneguzzo, A. Rigoni, F. Sborgi, S. Solimano) Museo di Villa Croce, Genoa; Conserenza di pensiero e pittura (edited by A. Rigoni), Galleria Liba, Pontedera; Struttura – Pittura, (edited by M. Cesarini) Museo d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Senigallia. 2010 Thinking Painting. The Seventies (curated by A. Mugnaini and M. Munari), La Rinascente Gallery, Padua; Pensando Pittura. From the Seventies to the present (curated by A. Mugnaini and M. Munari), Galleria Anfiteatro Arte, Padua; Continua la Pittura (curated by A. Rigoni, text by A. Mugnaini), Fondazione Zappettini, Chiavari; Personale, Continuità e interferenze (curated by C. Cerritelli), ProgettoArte Elm, Milan; Pittura e Pittura, Analitica e Support/Surfaces, Otto protagonisti tra Italia e Francia (curated by Alberto Rigoni), Palazzo Robellini, Acqui Terme. 2011 La presenza della pittura – gli anni Settanta (curated by G. Bonomi), Arte Studio, Milan; Analytische Malerei – 4 Protagonisten aus Italien (curated by A. Rigoni), Forum Kunst, Rottweil; Lo stato dell’arte- Una ricerca senza fine (curated by V. Rigoni), The state of the art – Una ricerca senza fine (curated by V. Rigoni), The presence of painting – gli anni Settanta (curated by G. Bonomi), Arte Studio, Milan; Analytische Malerei – 4 Protagonisten aus Italien (curated by A. Rigoni), Forum Kunst, Rottweil; Lo stato dell’arte- Una ricerca senza fine (curated by V. Rigoni), The state of the art (curated by G. Rigoni). Sgarbi) Venice Biennale, Venice; Kunst der Siebziger Jahre-Art of Seventies, Dany Keller Galerie, Munchen; Analytical news, Presenze Italo-Francesi degli anni settanta, Cavana Arte contemporanea, La Spezia. 2012 Paint?! (curated by M. Vanni, A. Rigoni), Lu.C.C.A. Lucca Center of Contemporary Art, Lucca; Superfici sensibili (curated by M. Ratti) CAMeC Centro d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, La Spezia. 2013 Personal, Works from 1973 to 2013, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Senigallia; Ninety artists for a flag (curated by Sandro Parmeggiani), Vittoriano, Roma.2014 Personal, Gallery Clivio Contemporary Art, Parma; Analytical Painting in Italy (curated by Marco Meneguzzo), Labs Gallery, Bologna; Between Painting and Analytical Painting (curated by Giorgio Bonomi) Vibo Valentia. 2015 Solo exhibition, Works: 1973-2015 (curated by Alberto Fiz), Luca Tommasi Arte Contemporanea, Milan; An idea of Painting, Analytical Abstraction in Italy 1972-1976, curated by Fabio Belloni, Casa Cavazzini, Museo d’arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Udine; Visione Analitica, Percorsi della pittura degli anni 70, curated by Claudio Cerritelli, Villa Brandolini, Pieve di Soligo; La Pittura Analitica Yeri e Oggi, curated by Alberto Fiz, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan; La Pittura Analitica Yeri e Oggi, curated by Alberto Fiz, Primae Noctis Art Gallery, Lugano. 2018 100% Italy: 1915-2015 Hundred years of masterpieces, Mastio della Cittadella, Turin;