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Giovanni Pope

04/05/1941 - 30/12/2021
ArtistaOnLine keeps the memory of the artist alive.

Born in Catania in 1941, he lived for many years in Comerio, Varese province.

He was a self-taught artist and engraved over five hundred plates using all printmaking techniques and created about fifty ex-libris.

He took part in numerous Ex Libristic events and graphic exhibitions in Italy and worldwide, and also held twenty solo exhibitions. Some of his works have been published in collections and catalogs in Italy, France, Poland, and Serbia. He was a member of several associations including the "Associazione Nazionale Incisori Italiani" and the "Associazione Italiana Ex-Libris".

Luigi Piatti, a writer and art critic from Barasso (Va), said about him:

“It's not every day that you meet an important figure. I was happy at the beginning of August 2016 when Giovanni Papa from Comerio visited me at my home in Barasso.

It was a great pleasure for me because it had been years since we last met, despite my usual presence in Comerio being daily.

Therefore, my curiosity was piqued with great interest to be updated on the activity of my friend Giovanni.

I have already written about an "important character," a situation known to me, which began when he was a boy working as a deckhand on the sailboat Carmelina. Arriving in Valletta, the capital of the island of Malta, he could showcase his talent as a great singer in public places.

About fifteen years passed since those times, and our Giovanni, also thanks to the critic Sisti, began drawing and then engraving plates to create lithographs, etchings, burins, aquatints, woodcuts, and so on.

First of all, I want to talk about the drawings because they "strongly impressed me for their expressive capacity: from mountains, to houses, to the needs of daily life, such as the many clothes hanging out to dry, that is, the exaltation of the family work of mothers and wives.

After the positive results of drawing, Sisti insisted that after a few years, he should move on to engravings; an insistence warmly welcomed by our Giovanni, who dove into this activity with great determination and inventiveness.

Certainly, he realized that engraving was an exceptional art, which began several hundreds of years ago. And in this regard, it should be noted that the oldest engravings are The Madonna of Brussels from 1418 and that of Manchester from 1423 with St. Christopher.

Since then, the production became numerically high, involving many artists. And I affirm this because in a local place in Comerio, there are more than six hundred plates stored, available for printing at any time. Obviously, these are from our Giovanni, who with these plates highlighted the world with our landscapes, our life, our characters. A documentation of the past and present that will also hold relevance in the future.

Thank you, Giovanni, for your work that deserves the embrace of all of us, friends and acquaintances."

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You can write to me using the form "Contact Me" below.

photogallery

participations

Personal exhibitions

1981 – Civic Center of Popular Culture of Luino (Va)

1981 – Civic Center of Popular Culture of Luino Personal Artistic and Cultural Center “Fiaf” Varese

1982 – Civic Center of Popular Culture of Luino Personal Artistic and Cultural Center “Fiaf” Varese

1983 – Cultural Artistic Center “Fiaf” Varese 1983 Personal exhibition at the Town Hall of Maccagno (Va)

1993 - Parish Exhibition Hall - Comerio (Va)

1994 – Solo exhibition at the Pessotto Art Gallery – Varese

1998 – Cloister of Voltorre (Va)

1998 - Villa Pomini - Castellanza (Va)

2004 – Cococafè of Luvinate (Va)

2005 – Imprimatur – Congress Palace “Stelline” – Milan

Collective exhibitions

1976 – Ternate painting competition 3rd Prize Graphic Section

1976 – Group show at the “La Finestra” Varese Gallery

1977 – Group exhibition of 19th century and contemporary Varesini artists at the Varese International Gallery

1977 – Leone Rampante d'Oro (awarded with cup of the square of Milan).

1977 – Painter's Christmas Painting Award (2nd prize for graphics)

1978 – Ternate Award 78 Figurative Arts Exhibition Competition

1978 – S. Cecilia Varese Award (Work reported in the graphics category)

1978 – 1st International Painting Prize “Primavera Varesina”

1978 – Aquilotti Painting Award (Work marked with a special plate)

1978 – International Prize for Painting and Graphics – Como

1979 – Painter's Christmas Award – Varese

1979 – “Primavera Varesina” international painting prize

1980 – 1st Prize for Graphics at the “Luino” Art Review

1980 – 3rd International Painting Prize “Varesina Spring”

1981 – 4th International Painting Prize “Primavera Varesina”

1982 – 5th International Painting Prize “Primavera Varesina”

1983 – 6th International Painting Prize “Primavera Varesina”

1983 – National Painting Award Libra d'Argento at the Libra Gallery in Varese

1984 – Spring Exhibition with the Varese Independent Artists Association

1984 – Collective Exhibition of the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Foundation of the Association of Independent Artists

1985 – Spring Exhibition with Independent Artists Association

1996 – Grand Prix Italy National Championship Contemporary Painting S. Margherita ligure 2nd Prize for Graphics

1996 – Collective associated with "Proposal of Art" at Villa Pirelli Induno Olona Grand Prix Italy S. Margherita Ligure awarded for the synthesis of the drawing

1997 – Provincial Painting Competition Castellanza (Va)

1997 – Collective Associative with “Proposal of Art” at Villa Pirelli Induno Olona (Va)

2018 – Collective exhibition of Independent Artists of Varese – Porto Ceresio (Va)

2019 – 3rd edition Pavia Art Talent – Pavia

contact me

Are you interested in my artistic work?
Do not hesitate to contact me.