Dadamaino

Eduarda Emilia Maino - better known under the pseudonym Dadamaino - was an Italian artist of the Milan avant-garde of the 1960s. In the late 1950s she attracted attention with her first series Volume, which was exhibited at the Galleria dei Bossi in Milan. The series shows black and white canvases with holes, whereby the influence of Lucio Fontana becomes obvious.
Shortly thereafter she was a member of Piero Manzoni's Azimuth Gallery in Milan, which was in contact with other artist groups such as the German Zero Group, the Dutch Group Nul and the French Group Motus. Later the artist joined the Nouvelle Tendance movement.
In the 1970s Dadamaino turned to Op Art with the series Oggetto Ottico Dinamico, in the form of psychedelic-optical works.
It creates meticulous specifications on size, milling, ratio of filled and empty parts of the work and arrangement of the plates. "The sides of the squares put together in this way create a spherical impression, creating a flowing dynamic. The special arrangement of the millings on the plates completely or only in part cancels the overall view of the work, in that a sequence of unstable episodes takes place, which changes according to the position of the viewer in relation to the work. Although the object is static, it gives the impression of a continuous movement and variation."
Later, in the 1980s, she developed letter-like characters, which she repeatedly reproduced on small canvases. Dadamaino is still one of Italy's most progressive artists.