(Bari, 19 Oct 1935 - Rome, 11 Sept 1968).
Pino Pascali was born in Bari on 19 October 1935. Before the end of World War II his family moved to Polignano a Mare, a small fishermen's village thirthy-five kilometers south of Bari. In 1955 he abandoned the fourth year of the scientific high school in Bari to instead complete the artistic high-school leaving exam in Naples. In 1956 he enrolled at the Fine Arts Academy in Rome, attending the course in stage design taught by Toti Scialoja. In the years when he studied at the Academy he made friends with the artists of the so-called Piazza del Popolo group, and attended the series of conferences on contemporary art held at the National Gallery of Modern Art. He graduated in 1959 with top marks. Even before graduating he had begun to work as an assistant set designer in a number of productions for Italian state television, collaborating with Studio Saraceni and Lodolofilm as set designer, graphic designer and art director for television commercials, creating sketches, personalities and shorts for advertising features. He continued his collaboration with Lodolofilm until the year of his death, also due to his close friendship with Sandro Lodolo. Plinio de Martiis, owner of the La Tartaruga Gallery, gave him an oppotunity to show his works in January 1965, presented by Cesare Vivaldi. He exhibited: Pezzi di donne (Piece of women), Muro di pietra (Stone wall), Colosseo (Colosseum), Ruderi sul prato (Ruins on lawn), Biancavela (White veil). In April he exhibited his Teatrino (Toy Theater) at the Feltrinelli bookshop. In the summer of the same year he realized the installation cum performance Requiescat: funerale di Corradino di Svevia e dell'arte del momento (Requiescat: funeral of Corradino di Svevia and art of the moment), in which he acted as officiator, at the La Salita Gallery. In 1965 he also presented an individual exhibition in Palermo and a series of group shows: at the Ferrari Gallery in Verona, Termoli Prize, the Michetti Prize at Francavilla a Mare, The Luna Park in Florence and Art Actuelle en Italie in Cannes.
In early 1966 he presented his “Weapons” at the Sperone Gallery in Turin. In the spring he began to work on his first pieces in white canvas on centering. In the summer, at the Avezzano Prize, he presented Bucranio and Trofei di caccia (Hunting Trophies) and in September, at the Spoleto Prize, Due code di balena (Two Whale Tails). In October-December he presented an exhibition in two parts, at the Fabio Sargentini Gallery, the first featuring the cycle of animals and trophies and the second Il mare (Sea), Barca che affonda (Sinking boat), Balene (Whales). In 1966 he also partecipated in an exhibition together with Renato Mambor curated by Achille Bonito Oliva at the Guida bookshop in Naples, and in shows at the Obelisco and the Tartaruga in Rome, at the International Exposition of Contemporary Sculpture in Paris, at the VI Yugoslavia-Italy exhibition in Porec and at the Galleria Deposito in Genoa. In 1967 he presented his first individual exhibition abroad, at the Thelen Gallery in Essen, Germany, showing works from different periods. In June he presented a cycle of new works (elements from nature: Pozzanghere (Puddles), 1 metro cubo di terra (1 cubic meter of earth) and 2 metri cubi di terra (2 cubic meters of earth), in a show curated by A. Boatto and M. Calvesi. In July he presented 32 metri quadrati di mare circa (About 32 square meters of sea) in Foligno, and Confluenze (Confluences) at the VI Biennal of San Marino. In September he presented 1 metro cubo di terra and 2 metri cubi di terra once again, in the exhibition Arte Povera-Im spazio, curated by G. Celant, in Genoa. At the exhibition Exhibition of Italian Contemporary Art held in Tokyo and Kyoto he presented Ricostruzione della balena (Reconstruction of the Whale). In October he showed Campi coltivati (Cultivated Fields), Cornice di fieno (Hay Frame) and Canali di irrigazione (Irrigations Canals), at the Jolas Gallery in Milan, presented by Cesare Brandi. In December he showed Campi arati (Ploughed land) and Canali di irrigazione (Irrigations Canals) at the National Gallery of Modern art in Rome in an exhibition together with Eliseo Mattiacci, presented by Palma Bucarelli. In 1967 he also presented Grande rettile (Large Reptile) in the Modigliano Prize in Livorno, Realtà dell'immagine e strutture della visione at the Cerchio in Rome, Oltre la scultura in Pescara, Expo '67 in Montreal, International Youth Salon in Milan and Turin, also partecipating in shows at Galleria de' Foscherari in Bologna, Palazzo Ancarani in Spoleto, Proposte Uno in Avezzano, Exhibition of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, V Biennal of Youths in Paris, III Rassegna Arte del Mezzogiorno in Naples, IX Biennal of Sao Paulo in Brazil, Art Objectif in Paris. In January 1968 he presented an individual exhibition at the Ars Intermedia Gallery in Cologne. In February he showed Vedova blu (Blue Widow), a work from the new cycle ideated for the VI Biennal of Rome, at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni. In March he showed his Bachi da setola (Bristle Worms) for the first time at the Jolas Gallery in Paris, presented By Giulio Carlo Argan; at the Attico Gallery he presented Bachi da setola, Ponte (Bridge), Trappola (Trap) and Botole (Hatches). In May he showed at the Extra Stadt Museum in Wiesbaden. The following works were shown at the XXXIV Venice Biennal, presented by Palma Bucarelli: Pelo (Hair), Contropelo (Against the nap), Cesto (Basket), Stuoia (Mat), Le penne d'Esopo (Aesop's Pens), Archetipo (Archetype), Solitario (Solitary) and Liane (Lianas). In July he partecipated, together with Fabio Sargentini, Jannis Kounellis and Eliseo Mattiacci, in Luca Patella's movie SMKP2. In the same year he also partecipated in Young Italians in Boston, Arte viva at the Feltrinelli Gallery in Trieste, One Hundred Italians Works of Art from Futurism until Today in Warsaw, Bochum, Malmö, Cologne and Stockolm, also showing at the Stein Gallery in Turin and in the show Arte Povera, azioni povere in Amalfi. He died in Rome on 11 September 1968 from wounds received in a motorbike accident that took place on 30 August.
