Carlo Zinelli (July 2, 1916 – January 27, 1974) was an Italian

outsider art Outsider art is art made by self-taught or supposedly naïve artists with typically little or no contact with the conventions of the art worlds. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrates ...

ist. For most of his life he was affected by

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social wi ...

. Zinelli was born in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

countryside in the

Veneto it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

region. In 1934, when he was 19, he relocated to

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

. In 1939 he volunteered for the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

, where he displayed early symptoms of schizophrenia. He was placed on medical leave after only two months and was exonerated from the military service during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In 1947 he was admitted to the

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociat ...

in Verona where he spent ten years in almost total isolation. Zinelli's life took a turn ten years later, when he and twenty other patients were encouraged to take part in a painting workshop established by

sculptors Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable s ...

Michele Nobile and Pino Castagna and

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their ...

Mario Marini. Set in an

atelier An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art o ...

, patients were encouraged to paint or sculpt freely. Completely engrossed by his work, Zinelli drew for eight hours a day with tempera paints and colored pencils. This routine seems to have calmed him considerably; clinical evaluations from this time report of his good behavior. By 1964, his work had been exhibited, and he had attracted the attention of art historians associated with

Jean Dubuffet Jean Philippe Arthur Dubuffet (31 July 1901 – 12 May 1985) was a French painter and sculptor. His idealistic approach to aesthetics embraced so-called "low art" and eschewed traditional standards of beauty in favor of what he believed to be a ...

and the Compagnie de l'Art Brut. In 1969, the hospital moved to a new location in Marzana, Italy. Disoriented by the move, Zinelli painted much more infrequently until his death in 1974. His body of work comprises about nineteen hundred paintings and a few sculptures. The paintings are created on white sheets, and are two-sided from 1962 to 1968. These two-sided works can be seen as continuous, single narratives from one side to the other. Zinelli used primary colors to tell the story of his childhood in the Italian country side, frequently repeating figures to cover the entire background in a "horror vacui" style. His human figures are always solid shapes drawn in profile, often with holes to represent eyes or other features.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zinelli, Carlo Outsider artists 20th-century Italian artists Italian contemporary artists 1916 births 1974 deaths People from the Province of Verona People with schizophrenia Corpo Truppe Volontarie personnel Artists with disabilities Italian people with disabilities 20th-century Italian male artists