EDOARDO LANDI
Born in 1937 in San Felice sul Panaro, Italy, Edoardo Landi is one of the leading historical figures of Italian Kinetic and Programmed Art. Trained in architecture in Venice, where he also attended the prestigious Advanced Course in Industrial Design between 1962 and 1964, he developed an early interest in the relationships between visual perception, geometry and space.
In 1959, he co-founded the renowned Gruppo N in Padua alongside Alberto Biasi, Ennio Chiggio, Toni Costa and Manfredo Massironi. The collective quickly became one of the principal forces of the European avant-garde, exploring theories of perception, viewer interaction and the possibilities of an art grounded in scientific principles rather than subjective expression.
Landi played an active role in the international New Tendencies movement, of which he became one of the leading proponents from 1961 onwards. Between 1962 and 1964, he participated in the travelling exhibition Arte Programmata, presented in Olivetti showrooms in Milan, Venice, Rome, London and Paris. Accompanied by texts from Umberto Eco, this landmark exhibition became one of the defining moments of European Kinetic Art and brought Landi's work to international attention.
Landi's practice is based on the use of elementary geometric forms, grids, modular structures and optical devices designed to alter the viewer's perception. His investigations into visual illusion, retinal vibration and perceptual variation have established him as one of the most refined exponents of Italian Op Art.
His work has been exhibited in numerous international institutions and is represented in major public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Venice Biennale, the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna and the Sompo Museum of Art. Regarded as one of the great pioneers of European kinetic abstraction, Edoardo Landi has spent more than six decades pursuing a rigorous investigation into perception and the mechanisms of vision.
