Lucio Fontana (b. 1899, Argentina – d. 1968, Italy)
Spatial Concept, 1964-5

I’ve been tempted to include Fontana on this list for a while, but was failing to see sufficient pertinence. But today I was reading Godfrey (2009, 280) quoting Fontana:

“I did not make holes in order to wreck the picture. On the contrary, I made holes in order to find something else … a different dimension”.

Here, Fontana is speaking my language. I am not sure if he is referring specifically to his attempt to make a work that is neither painting nor sculpture, but search for “different dimension” is very much at the centre of my practice. The dimensions I am mainly interested are the uncodified ones – the meanings that are not yet articulated in the current codes, but can emerged through various holes found around the edges in-between the codes or pour out through the wholes cut directly in them…

I’ve been bracing myself for making holes in my canvases for quite a few weeks now (not exactly a la Fontana and not as the essential part of the gesture, but still a hole in canvas)… There is some internal resistance to that act, some fear of not getting it right, fear of irreversibility – but I will get to it sooner or later. It remains to be seen what new meanings will pop out through those holes, if any…

References

Godfrey, Tony. 2009. Painting Today. London / NYC: Phaidon.