History

Giancarlo SABO was born in Gorizia in 1967 and lives and works in Mariano del Friuli (province of Gorizia). Since the 18th century Mariano del Friuli has been renowned for the production of refined wooden artefacts, such that Empress Maria Theresa of Austria founded an Art Academy in Mariano del Friuli, thus spurring the industrial development even of the surrounding area. It's in this town with such a well-established and prestigious artisan tradition that Giancarlo Sabo grew up and accomplished his artistic training. With much study and practice he refined his technique, reaching artistic maturity. His journey was enriched through interaction and collaboration with artists and intellectuals both of the Friuli and Veneto regions.

Giancarlo Sabo's works are expressions of Conceptual Art. His work springs from a thought, a deep reflection on a subject which he initially puts down on a sheet of paper and then turns into a characteristic sketch before bringing it to life using multiform materials and techniques and making a defined sculpture.

From the beginning of his career in the early 90s to today, the subjects of Sabo's work reflect his on-going analysis on critical events of his life, as well as those experienced by others, with the awareness that internalizing these events can result in some of the most meaningful and essential changes in a person's life.

Giancarlo Sabo works with wood, metals, steel, different types of resins [ET1]and uses both traditional and innovative techniques. His sculptures vary in shape and size. To man he attributes the characteristics of fight and exertion, to woman those of determination and voluptuousness, while objects are variously associated to spirituality, hedonism and energy.

Giancarlo Sabo as a sculptor inspires interest and appreciation amongst the public as well as art critics. In the last few years of his life Giorgio Segato was vocal of his high esteem for Sabo's work. In Sabo's sculptures the renowned art critic from Padua saw articulate inner processes of transformation and dissolution of matter which, as explained by the sculptor himself: "are truly real and lead to formal and emotional purity which every piece of artwork secretly possesses and reveals in the perfect duality of light and poetry".

Monica Castellarin, storico dell'arte, curatore (Padova, 2019)

CRITIQUE

Giancarlo Sabo's creativity output ranges from minimalism, figurative art and science-fiction visions to realism, memories and metaphysical interludes. Elements of critical importance in the grammar of his art are rifts, movements, the recurring come-and-go that mirror investigative enquiry in multiple inner and parallel directions among material and mental spaces. "From sculpture as form to sculpture as structure to sculpture as place", this is the renowned motto used by Carl Andre to explain his work, now quoted in every art book. “Art is an angelic and geometric mood. It speaks to the mind, not to the senses" said Fausto Melotti. In the artistic journey undertaken, Sabo moves between these extremes, gracefully moving from one to the other. Material and vision are the essence of his work. The necessity of a physical, real connection with the materials used, corresponding to the necessity of really experiencing the work of art, points to an important and evergreen way to approach sculpture and art in general. The materials are never shown for what they are but are transformed into a synthesis, as the fascination its grandeur exerts is so powerful. His works, then, originate from his imagination and the demolition and composition of materials which turn into musical rhythm and poetic dimension.
Giuseppe Raffaelli, art critic (Cividale, 2012)

Sabo's creative tension takes root in an artistic education which, over the years, allowed him to master the use of wood but also a wide range of different materials, proving the eclecticism of his personal research. After long and passionate researches and experimentations necessary to internalise the fundamental principles of matter, the artist's plastic experiences develop at several levels in a sculptural impetus aiming to obtain an in-depth knowledge of matter. This resulted, in the most recent years, in selecting carefully the material to be used according to the projects which focussed on several aspects of internal and external reality, composed in a story written in the language of geometry, of the human figure and of various aspects of existence. The two poles between which the sculptor moves are, on the one hand figurative art focussing on the expressive value of imagination that comes undone in space thus describing the reasons of the existence of the subject represented. On the other hand the conceptual construction which usually represents the idea of a casing that covers the subject without obscuring it, letting light pass through from various angles. In these cases, the sculptures are closer to installations and since the sculptor uses different materials he finally comes to an expressive synthesis which allows the public to interpret the subjects represented in an ironic, problematic, contemplative, symbolic way depending on the sculpture. The sculptor has reached a level of mastery which grants him the ability to transform his previous experiences into a form of art which is rich as far as the constructive organisation is concerned, but also of poetic substance.
Enzo Santese, art critic (Remanzacco, 2010)

The work of Giancarlo Sabo is closely linked to the existential and spiritual dimensions of the human being. His inner research leads him to choose different kinds of materials that, thanks to the most suitable techniques chosen to mold them, result in a poetic essential and structural nature shining of pure light.
Giorgio Segato, art critic (Padova 2006)