Giorgio Griffa (b. 1936) is an Italian abstract painter whose works on unprimed and unstretched canvases are nailed to the wall. His visual language is simple and universal, comprising lines, dots, geometric forms 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 colours. Griffa lives and works in Turin and initially completed a law degree in 1958 and became a practising lawyer. From 1960 to 1963, he learned how to paint by assisting the Italian painter Filippo Scroppo. Despite early associations with movements such as Arte Povera, pittura analitica (fundamental painting) and Minimalism, his work has always stood outside the mainstream currents in contemporary art.
