Giorgio Griffa (-1936) is an Italian abstract painter living and working in Turin, Italy.
Griffa never received a formal art education. He began painting as a child, taking lessons from local painters at the Circolo degli Artisti in Turin.
In 1968, Griffa abandoned figurative painting in favor of a format of abstract painting that still characterizes his work to this day.
His visual language is simple and universal, comprising lines, dots, geometric shapes and repeating linear patterns, which are often used alongside letters, texts or numerals.
Another distinguishing feature is the artist’s preference for diluted pigments in luminous, desaturated colors.
Painting with acrylic on raw un-stretched canvas, burlap and linen, Griffa’s works are nailed directly to the wall along their top edge.
When not exhibited, the works are folded and stacked, resulting in creases that create an underlying grid for his compositions.
In keeping with his idea that painting is “constant and never finished”, many of his works display a deliberate end-point that has been described as “stopping a thought midsentence.”
More of Giorgio Griffa’s paintings can be found at https://www.fondazionegiorgiogriffa.org/ and https://www.artnet.com/artists/giorgio-griffa/.
Humoring the Goddess 