Born in Catania in 1967, Pietro Zuccaro has been influenced somewhat by Sarnari, Guccione and several other artists little known outside Italy. His work has had little exposure beyond Italian shores.

Instinctively, one ponders the natural setting for a particular work of art, and for most of Zuccaro's work that setting seems to be open space uncluttered by competing textures and possibly conflicting messages. Fontana 2001 (Fountain 2001), shown here, is actually a smaller work, at 41 x 45 centimetres, and one of the more representational. It seems typical of this form of art that one scarcely preceives the subject until the title of the painting is revealed, so remote is the individual vision from each viewer's reality. But for anything one can witness or imagine --a landscape, a still life, a living creature-- there are infinite impressions. If painting were poetry, this would be a new, minimalist, form of haiku, simple yet highly developed and, from a distance, often monochromatic.

The artist is represented by Galleria La Murzia in Palermo, and by Galleria Andrea Cefaly in Catania.

About the Author: Artist Antonella Gallo teaches art in Rome.