Mario Schifano (Italian, 1934–1998) was a painter, collagist, filmmaker, and musician. Born in Homs, Libya, Schifano moved to Rome following World War II. In the early 1950s, he began painting in the Art Informel style, using thick impasto. From 1959 to 1961, Schifano produced a series of paintings on wrapping paper glued to canvas using only one or two colors. His work was similar to French Nouveau Réalisme. In 1962, he began to use themes from advertising. That same year, he was featured in an exhibition New York, where he came into direct contact with American Pop artists, and was particularly influenced by the work of Jim Dine and Franz Kline.
In the second half of the 1960s, Schifano became interested in cinema, television, and performance. He founded the band Le Stelle with guitarist Urbano Orlandi, and designed a booklet for their album, Le ultime parole di Brandimonte. In 1968, Schifano made the film Satellite. Also during this time, Schifano began making screenprints, many of which borrowed imagery from his earlier works.
A set of eight screenprints, was published in Rome for the 1984 Venice Biennale. Beginning in the late 1980s, he often worked with the publisher Torcular of Trezzano del Naviglio, who issued a series of catalogues of his work.
The artist died in Rome in 1998.
