Giovanni Guida


Giovanni Guida is an Italian artist, painter and illustrator. His pictorial works are made with the surrealist technique of grattage.

Biography

Giovanni Guida was born in Acerra but grew up in Cesa, Caserta. In 2015, he graduated with honors in Painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples.
His painting is based on the dynamic value of the 'sign', with soft and sinuous lines that intertwine and intersect each other. He deepens his research on color and light, moving towards an abstract art, through the techniques of grattage and frottage. For this method of work, he makes use of new tools, experimenting with common utensils and everyday objects, such as sponges, steel brushes, and small metal blocks. His investigation penetrates the "skin" of the painting and captures its intimate essence in the luminous fragmentation of the color. He aims to respond to the unexpected signs and shapes created by the plot, scraping away the paint, almost ripping the "Veil of Maya" that covers the essence of things. In his refined "grattages" the deep scratches created bring out the bright colors of the underlying pictorial layers and create chromatic and chiaroscuro contrasts.
above the world, grattage on graphia, 2020
on canvas, 2014|alt=
In 2016, his painting "Caesarius Diaconus" was exhibited in famous museums, cathedrals and basilicas in the world.
In 2018, his painting "Apotheosis" was published on the cover of the catalog of the Public Library of Valencia for the Festival of Philosophy and Literature Avivament.
On 1 May 2019, he won the competition "Faces of politics", organized by the Valenzi Foundation, with the illustration "Diarchia: the embrace between Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Maio".'
In March 2020, his illustration "God fights the Coronavirus above the world" had gone viral and it was published in many important newspapers.
In 2020, he created the illustration "Ludwig van Beethoven: from the heart, may it go to the heart" on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the birth of the great composer, pianist and conductor German orchestra.
His illustrations have been published in many important newspapers: Il Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica, Treccani Encyclopedia, Il Fatto Quotidiano, Il Mattino, Leggo, La Nazione, La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno, Avvenire, L'Osservatore Romano', Il Messaggero, La Voce di New York.

Exhibitions