Ferruccio Ascari

Ferruccio Ascari (b. 1949) lives and works in Milan. His early works focused on site-specific installations and the cross-contamination between visual arts and time-based arts (music, dance, performance), as well as painting and sculpture—an openness to diverse artistic languages that continues to define his entire practice.

From the mid-1980s onward, Ascari concentrated on painting and sculpture, particularly on the technique of fresco transferred onto canvas. Many of his works from this period emerge from a preordained processuality aimed at exposing the inherent properties of materials. In recent years, his work has progressively distanced itself from an anthropocentric perspective, embracing instead forms and forces linked to the cycles of nature—an inquiry into the origins of form as a manifestation of energy in a perpetual dialectic between permanence and transformation.

In the mid-1970s, following the completion of his degree in Philosophy, he made the decisive transition into the field of artistic practice, embarking on a multidisciplinary exploration that would shape the trajectory of his career. This period marked the beginning of an in-depth engagement with various artistic forms, reflecting his intellectual background and a deep-seated interest in the intersections between theory and creative expression. His early work was characterized by an experimental approach, driven by a desire to push the boundaries of traditional artistic disciplines and investigate the dynamic relationships between space, material, and temporality. This foundational phase not only set the stage for his later endeavors but also established the conceptual and methodological framework that would continue to inform his artistic research in the decades to come.

Ferruccio Ascari’s works have been exhibited in numerous public and private institutions, including: the Venice Biennale; Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Rome; Rotonda della Besana, Milan; Palazzo dei Priori and Pinacoteca, Volterra; Castel Sant’Elmo, Naples; Symposium International d’Art Performance, Lyon; ICA Gallery, London; Biennale Giovani, Paris; Lenbachhaus, Munich; International Biennial of Graphic Art, Ljubljana; Museum der Stadt, Waiblingen; Museo d’Arte Moderna, Ascona; Palazzo del Governatore, Parma; BIAS (Biennale Internazionale di Arte Contemporanea Sacra delle Religioni e Credenze dell’Umanità), Palermo; Museo del Novecento, Milan; and Horti.Arte, the Contemporary Art Park of Almo Collegio Borromeo, Pavia.