Guida, Giovanni, 1992-

Giovanni Guida is an Italian artist, painter, and illustrator, known for having perfected the painting technique of grattage.

His painting is based on the dynamic value of the "sign", with soft and sinuous lines that intertwine and intersect each other. He deepens his research on color and light, moving towards abstract art, through the surrealist techniques of grattage and frottage (which underline the importance of the tension between gesture and plasticity within the creative process). For this method of work, he makes use of new tools, experimenting with common utensils and everyday objects, such as sponges, brushes, steel, and small metal blocks. His investigation penetrates the "skin" of the painting (up to the bottom of "bowels") and captures its intimate essence in the luminous fragmentation of the color. He aims to respond to the unexpected signs and shapes created by the plot, scraping away the paint, almost ripping the "Veil of Maya" that covers the essence of things. In his refined "grattages" the deep scratches created to bring out the bright colors of the underlying pictorial layers and create chromatic and chiaroscuro contrasts.