Biography

Born in Genoa Pegli on August 17th, 1935. In 1951 he published his first writing and in 1958 his first booklet (printed on his own in cyclostyle) of experimental and visual poetry entitled: “èini”. In 1958 Carrega began to collaborate with Martino Oberto, with whom he developed his first training as a verbal-visual artist. In 1963 he became editor of the magazine Ana etcetera, directed by Oberto and his wife Anna Bontempi. In 1965 he published in the magazine the issue of “graphic analysis of language”. Carrega aims to found a new language thanks to the integration of alphabetical writing with graphic elements of a different nature. The verbal and graphic elements are the cornerstones of the verbovisual artist’s work, respectively constituting the “technical report” and the “essential report” that is linked to the energy of the written page organisation. In 1966 he moved to Milan. From 1965 to 1968 he produced his own review, together with some friends including Vincenzo Accame, “TOOL: notebooks of symbiotic writing”. From 1967 he theorized the New Scripture, “to extend the field of action to spaces of research become wider and wider” which will become operational, however, only in 1974 for the activity of the Salt Market (in tribute to Marcel Duchamp).
In 1968 the Manifesto di Nuova Scrittura was published, signed by Vincenzo Accame, Martino and Anna Oberto, Corrado D’Ottavi, Rolando Mignani, Liliana Landi and Vincenzo Ferrari.
Thanks to the exhibition of his works of visual poetry at the Schwarz Gallery, in May 1970, he definitively abandoned his job as  translator. In 1973, together with Vincenzo Ferrari and Claudio Salocchi, he created the Non-Finalized Research Centre, which produced the booklet “Gli oggetti recuperati della nostra infanzia” (The recovered objects of our childhood) and the film “Oggetti sani, oggetti malati” (Healthy objects, sick objects). In 1982 he thought of an artwork and wrote a small poster countersigned by Vincenzo Ferrari, Luca Patella and Magdalo Mussio.
In addition to TOOL, he has created “aaa” (with Mario Diacono), the “Quaderni di TOOL”, the “Bollettino da dentro”. He directed two issues of the magazine “ESTRA”.
He created the cultural centers “Centro Suolo”, in 1969. “Centro TOOL” in 1971. “Salt Market”, in 1974. Euphoria Costante, 1993. In 1988 he created the Archive of New Scripture for Paolo Della Grazia. He died in Milan on October 7, 2014.

Main exhibitions

Among his most important exhibitions: 1969, Galerie im Uptownjazzsaloon, Innsbruck – 1970, Galleria Schwarz, Milan – 1970, Galerie Senatore, Stuttgart – 1971, Galerie Reckermann, Cologne – 1973, Galleria Veste Sagrada, Rio de Janeiro – 1993, Biennale di Venezia – 1994,1997, 2014, Galleria Derbylius, Milan – 2007, Fondazione Berardelli, Brescia – 2015, Galleria Clivio, Parma.