Franco Grignani – Art as Design 1950-1990, Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, 39a Canonbury Square, London N1, until 10th September 2017

Franco Grignani
LA FRATTURA DEL RUMORE (1279)
THE FRACTURING OF NOISE
(1279)
1990
73 X 73 CM
TEMPERA ON SCHOELLER CARD
ARCHIVIO MANUELA GRIGNANI
SIRTOLI

I am grateful to John Kirkwood for visiting and writing about this exhibition:

Grignani, who is not necessarily a familiar name, is the man who designed the famous swirling ‘Woolmark’ logo in 1963.

Franco Grignani
WOOLMARK LOGO
1963
ARCHIVIO MANUELA GRIGNANI
SIRTOL

My first reaction on entering Gallery 1 at the Estorick Collection was ‘Wow!’.  I felt as though I had been transported back to the nineteen sixties (I wish!) as I was confronted by an array of images of what became known as Op Art which was very popular at that time.

Franco Grignani
ADVERTISMENT FOR DOMPÉ
FARMACEUTICI’S ‘ARTROSIL B1’
MEDICINE
1950
ARCHIVIO MANUELA GRIGNANI
SIRTOLI

Imagine my surprise then when I discovered that some of Grignani’s works date from the early nineteen fifties. He was producing work then which did not fully come to popular fruition until the sixties. His grasp of spatial dynamics is exhilarating and his other non-linear works are equally as exciting.

Franco Grignani
OPERATIVO NUMERICO (31/B)
NUMERICAL OPERATIVE (31/B)
1965
72 X 72 CM
TEMPERA ON SCHOELLER CARD
ARCHIVIO MANUELA GRIGNANI
SIRTOLI

www.estorickcollection.com