ARTIST GIULIO ZANET
Photo of artist courtesy of Manuel Coen
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH GIULIO ZANET
I was born in a small town at the foot of the mountains. It was a happy childhood and adolescence. My parents certainly passed on their love for the arts on me. My mother played the piano and my father used to paint. As a teen I discovered that I loved painting and never stopped.. After living in Milan, studying and working professionally, I now reside in Correggio, a small town in Emilia Romagna; I moved here for love. I live with my fiancée and our dog, and I am lucky to say I am very happy.
Giulio tell us your greatest inspirations or influences?
There are so many artists that I love. As a kid I loved Egon Schiele, then Bacon and Schifano. I still love them but as I grew up I began to also love artists like Hockney, Sol LeWitt, Burri, Tintoretto, Tiepolo, Matisse, Richter, Malevic, Morris Louis, Ellsworth Kelly. There are so many, I can’t list all of them, I am voracious, I watch a lot of stuff and I have a vivid imagination so everything I watch and read I store.
Tell us about your creative process and what you have planned the rest of the year.
First I decide what materials I am going to use, from paper to fabrics, canvas etc, and after that I begin my color process in a very instinctive and casual way. I never have in mind exactly what I want to do, there is a lot of error, and awareness of defeat, it’s kind of like life, in the sense that we all know we’re going to die one day but we don’t kill ourselves ahead of time. This year I want to continue painting, it is how I understand and experience the world. I explore the relationship with space, and I put into play ambiguity, repetition, variation, acceptance vs rejection, in other words, I always want to ensure that my work is open to multifaceted interpretation.
How has this year affected your creativity and how you see the world moving forward?
Well in terms of my daily life, not much changed, I spend my days in my studio working. What changed was the social aspect, meeting less people and experiencing/seeing things in my environment. I missed that, and it certainly affected my work. On a positive note, I was able to fully concentrate with no distraction and immersed myself completely in my work.
In terms of the future, I thought things were going to turn for the best, but I’m not so certain anymore.
Who do you consider an icon of our time?
I would say David Hockney
Do you think the art world needs to change if so how can it improve?
The art world feels very distant from the real world, so yes it can definitely improve.
What does wellbeing mean to you Giulio?
For me wellbeing means able to wake up next to the person you love and have a mind clear from bad thoughts.