FRANCO BEMPORAD
Franco Bemporad was born in Florence in 1926. He moved to Rome in 1952, where he lived until 1956. From 1952 onward, he focused on both painting and cinematography. In 1957, he contributed to the creation of Francesco Maselli's film La donna del giorno, co-writing the screenplay with Cesare Zavattini and other authors. He then moved to Milan, where in April, he held his first solo exhibition, Segno e catrame, at Galleria Montenapoleone. The exhibition was introduced with written contributions by Lucio Fontana and Bemporad himself. Following the show, in September, he signed the Contro lo Stile manifesto alongside artists such as Enrico Baj, Gianni Bertini, Sergio Dangelo, Yves Klein, and Piero Manzoni. In October, he participated in the Arte Nucleare group exhibition at Galleria San Fedele in Milan, with other participants including Baj, Bemporad, Bertini, Dangelo, Jorn, Klein, Manzoni, Sordini, the Pomodoro brothers, and Angelo Verga. Later, in 1958, he held a solo exhibition titled Peinture noir at the Iris Clert Gallery in Paris. Toward the end of the year, he began a new painting phase based on repeating a single mark to structure the canvas. He then presented another solo exhibition in Milan at Galleria del Milione. In 1961, he became part of the Continuità group, which organized several exhibitions in Italy and abroad. The group, which included artists like Piero Dorazio, Lucio Fontana, Gastone Novelli, Achille Perilli, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Giò Pomodoro, Tancredi, and Giulio Turcato, was united not by a single artistic direction but by the desire to reinforce their individual artistic positions. In 1962, he held a solo exhibition at Galleria Toninelli Arte Moderna in Milan. Three months later, he participated in the final exhibition organized by Continuità at Galleria Levi in Milan, directed by Beniamino Levi and Franco Passoni.In 1966, he took part in the 33rd Venice Biennale. In 1971, he held a solo show titled Typewritings and Tele neutre at Salone Annunciata, directed by Carlo Grossetti. In 1973, he started a new series of works focused on pointillist sequences. The following year, in 1974, he presented a solo exhibition at Salone Annunciata in Milan, showcasing his latest pointillist works. In 1978, he held a solo exhibition curated by Enzo Rossi-Róiss at Galleria Nucleo Arte in Bologna, presenting works from 1960 to 1978. In 1980, he held a solo show at Arte Struktura, a contemporary art center led by Anna Canali, which focused on constructivism, concretism, and cinevisuality. The exhibition catalog featured a text by Carlo Belloli, reflecting on Bemporad's creative journey with a refined and essential style. Franco Bemporad passed away in Tuscany in 1989.
