Artist
Franco Grignani was born in the province of Pavia in 1908. He participated in the Second Futurismo while he was still young and transferred to Turin to study architecture. He participated in diverse exhibition initiatives but all his work achieved in these years was lost. From 1935 he started to experiment with a new type of media: photography. Franco Grignani‘s painting technique has always refused traditional styles. Flou, subpercezione, distorsione, moiree, periodiche, dissociazioni psicoplastiche, diagonali nascoste, strutture iperbolich all characterised his work. Meeting Milanese gallery owner Lorenzelli brought him great exhibition opportunities. He dedicated himself to the advertising world taking on the role of art-director for pharmaceutical companies like Dompè,creator of book covers for editors such as Penguin. In 1950 the members of AGI(Alliance Graphique Internationale) chose the sixty best graphic designers in the world and among them, Franco Grignani was invited to take part in the group together with Bruno Munari, Giovanni Ointori and Erberto Carboni. In 1957 he was the head of the graphic department at the Triennale di Milano. Due to his strong inspiring personality, in 1975 they dedicated an important monographic work to him, with more than 150 works, at the Rotonda della Besana di Milano. In 1980 he became a part of the academic body of the NABA (Nuova Accademia delle Belle Arti di Milano) and this activity of continued research inspired him to also continue with his research of painting, where the mathematical component is more present. He died in Milan in 1999, after one year of sickness and having lost the ability to move.