What is spatialism?

What Does spatialism Mean

It called spatialism an artistic movement that emerged in the mid-late 1940 in Italy. Lucio Fontana was responsible for promoting this movement that combined postulates of Tachism and Dadaism , among other groups.

The publication of Fontana's "White Manifesto" in 1946 is indicated as the starting point of spatialism. This text appeared in the city of Buenos Aires , where this Italian-Argentine painter and sculptor lived at that time. The following year, in Milan , the movement had its formal birth, gained momentum and began to position itself on the artistic panorama of Italy and the rest of the European continent.

One of the main characteristics of spatialism is the use of sharp or pointed elements to rip and tear canvases . In this way, its exponents created a three-dimensional effect in their works .
With these instruments, and sometimes appealing to the incorporation of various objects to establish reliefs , they gave their paintings a depth that was impossible to achieve with brushes . This physical discontinuity in the paintings is one of the pillars of spatialism.
By letting go of what he regarded as aesthetic artifices, Fontana set out to examine the spatial uses of painting. With his discontinuous canvases, the artist eliminated the distance between the painting and the space that surrounded it, modifying the context.
In short, spatialism oscillates between two great techniques . On the one hand, it resorts to a destructive methodology since it pierces, tears and cuts the canvases; on the other hand, it builds new surfaces by inserting fabrics, wood, nails and other elements. Thus it establishes different spatial effects .