{{Short description|Italian painter}} {{Infobox artist | name = Giovanni Guida | image = Giovanni Guida, artista (1992) con i suoi grattages.jpg | caption = Guida in 2023 | birth_name = Giovanni Guida | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1992}} | birth_place = Acerra, Italy | field = Grattage | movement = | works = | module = {{Infobox person|child=yes}} | website = }} '''Giovanni Guida''' (born 12 October 1992) is an Italian painter, known for his contemporary approach to the surrealist techniques of grattage and frottage.
==Biography== Born in Acerra, Italy in 1992 and raised in Cesa (province of Caserta), Guida studied at the "Luca Giordano" art high school in Aversa and subsequently obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Dartford |first=Katy |title=Surrealism at 100: Giovanni Guida explores hidden depths with innovative grattage |url=https://www.euronews.com/culture/2024/06/13/surrealism-at-100-giovanni-guida-explores-hidden-depths-with-innovative-grattage |access-date=19 September 2025 |website=Euronews |date=13 June 2024 }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Gural |first=Natasha |title=Italian Artist Giovanni Guida Embraces Max Ernst's Groundbreaking Techniques To Create Narratives Straddling The Holy And The Secular |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/natashagural/2021/10/21/italian-artist-giovanni-guida-embraces-max-ernsts-groundbreaking-techniques-to-create-narratives-straddling-the-holy-and-the-secular/ |access-date=19 September 2025 |website=Forbes}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Grajales |first=Manuel |title=Giovanni Guida, el artista italiano heredero del surrealismo |url=https://forbes.com.mx/forbes-life/cultura-giovanni-guida-el-artista-italiano-heredero-del-surrealismo/ |access-date=19 September 2025 |website=Forbes Mexico}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ferrier |first=Romain |title=Le «grattage», un mot français qui s’exporte à travers le monde |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/langue-francaise/actu-des-mots/le-grattage-un-mot-francais-qui-s-exporte-a-travers-le-monde-20260311 |access-date=11 March 2026 |website=Le Figaro}}</ref>
Following his studies, he taught painting and art history in Rome.<ref name=":6" /> thumb|''Apotheosis'', grattage - oil on canvas by Giovanni Guida, 2014.|left In 2016–2017, his icon {{lang|la|Caesarius Diaconus}} (Caesarius of Terracina) was exhibited in museums and cathedrals around the world including Kunstgewerbemuseum<ref>{{Cite web |title=Il giovane pittore Giovanni Guida con la tecnica del grattage svela la verità nascosta |url=https://www.famigliacristiana.it/articolo/il-giovane-pittore-giovanni-guida-.aspx |website=Famiglia Cristiana}}</ref> of Berlin, Museu Frederic Marès<ref name=":3" /> in Barcelona; Terra Sancta Museum Jerusalem; Lisbon's Museu de São Roque;<ref name=":5" /> Cathedral of Manila (by Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Severo |first=Jan Milo |title=Italian artist Giovanni Guida reminisces time in Manila |url=https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/arts-and-culture/2025/04/18/2436254/italian-artist-giovanni-guida-reminisces-time-manila |access-date=19 September 2025 |website=The Philippine Star}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Zulueta |first=Lito B. |title=Icon and 'papabile': Tagle, St. Caesarius, and the Holy Spirit's descent on Manila |url=https://plus.inquirer.net/lifestyle/icon-and-papabile-tagle-st-caesarius-and-the-holy-spirits-descent-on-manila/ |access-date=19 September 2025 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer}}</ref> Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization); Essen Minster; and Glastonbury Abbey.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 May 2024 |title=Giovanni Guida, le jeune peintre italien qui fait dialoguer l'art avec la foi |url=https://www.lepelerin.com/religions-et-spiritualites/lactualite-de-leglise/giovanni-guida-le-jeune-peintre-italien-qui-fait-dialoguer-l-art-avec-la-foi-9486 |access-date=19 September 2025 |website=Le Pèlerin}}</ref>
== Works == '''Style and technique'''
His paintings are distinguished by the depth of lapis lazuli blue<ref>{{Cite web |last=Baral |first=Maitree |title=One hundred years of grattage: Giovanni Guida is creating what Ernst could never have imagined |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/the-arts/one-hundred-years-of-grattage-giovanni-guida-is-creating-what-ernst-could-never-have-imagined/articleshow/131442412.cms |access-date=1 June 2026 |website=The Times of India}}</ref>, silver and gold.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=KLEIN LEICHMAN |first=ABIGAIL |title=Italian Artist Giovanni Guida as high priest: Rome-based painter traces methodology to Jerusalem |url=https://www.jpost.com/international/article-837841 |access-date=19 September 2025 |website=The Jerusalem Post |date=18 January 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Soto |first=Ángel |title=Giovanni Guida: un viaje espiritual a través del arte del 'grattage' |url=https://www.milenio.com/cultura/laberinto/giovanni-guida-viaje-espiritual-arte-grattage |access-date=19 September 2025 |website=Milenio |date=25 May 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=ARRIETA |first=JOSÉ |title=Vincula espiritualidad y surrealismo con el arte. Considerado una de las jóvenes promesas de la pintura italiana, Giovanni Guida retoma una técnica creada por Max Ernst para narrar su encuentro espiritual. |url=https://heraldodemexico.com.mx/cultura/2024/9/14/vincula-espiritualidad-surrealismo-con-el-arte-637698.html |access-date=19 September 2025 |website=El Heraldo de México}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Esparza |first=Daniel |title=Giovanni Guida: "All true art is already sacred" |url=https://aleteia.org/2023/09/20/giovanni-guida-all-true-art-is-already-sacred/ |website=Aleteia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Latorre de Silva |first=Matilde |title=El pintor que rasga sus obras en busca de la verdad: «El color se hace arte a través de la unión de cielo y tierra» |url=https://www.eldebate.com/religion/catolicos/20240201/pintor-rasga-obras-busca-verdad-color-hace-arte-traves-union-cielo-tierra_171200.html |access-date=19 September 2025 |website=El Debate (Spain) |date=February 2024 }}</ref> thumb|270x270px|''Etherea'', oil on canvas by Giovanni Guida, 2021 He works particularly with grattage, a technique that involves scraping wet paint from the surface, and frottage.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Inocencio |first=Syrah Vivien |title=Scratching the surface: how Giovanni Guida uses century-old grattage technique to expose the sacred and the unseen |url=https://www.tatlerasia.com/lifestyle/arts/grattage-art-giovanni-guida |access-date=19 September 2025 |website=Tatler}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Il giovane pittore Giovanni Guida con la tecnica del grattage svela la verità nascosta |url=https://www.famigliacristiana.it/articolo/il-giovane-pittore-giovanni-guida-.aspx |access-date=19 September 2025 |website=Famiglia Cristiana}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Martínez-Bordiú |first=Almudena |title=Pintor católico utiliza esta curiosa técnica que evoca el "velo rasgado" del templo de Jerusalén |url=https://www.aciprensa.com/noticias/104159/artista-catolico-utiliza-tecnica-que-evoca-rasgadura-del-templo-de-jerusalen |website=Catholic News Agency}}</ref> To create these effects, Guida experiments with a variety of tools, including sponges, styluses, scalpels, steel brushes, and small metal blocks.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Gigena |first=Daniel |title=Giovanni Guida, el pintor napolitano fanático de Maradona que recrea el celeste de la bandera argentina. Tiene 30 años y ya figura en enciclopedias de arte contemporáneo; se lo considera "heredero de Max Ernst" por su técnica surrealista y es la joven revelación de Italia |url=https://www.lanacion.com.ar/cultura/giovanni-guida-el-pintor-napolitano-fanatico-de-maradona-que-recrea-el-celeste-de-la-bandera-nid24112023/ |access-date=19 September 2025 |website=La Nación |date=24 November 2023 }}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite magazine |last=Coviello |first=Monica |title=Giovanni Guida, 30 anni, il più giovane italiano nelle enciclopedie d'arte internazionali |url=https://www.vanityfair.it/article/giovanni-guida-30-piu-giovane-italiano-enciclopedie-arte-internazionali |access-date=19 September 2025 |magazine=Vanity Fair}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Giovanni Guida, el gran regreso del 'grattage' en el centenario del surrealismo |url=https://www.semana.com/cultura/articulo/giovanni-guida-el-gran-regreso-del-grattage-en-el-centenario-del-surrealismo/202428/ |website=Semana |date=21 August 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Franza |first=Francesco |title="Grattage" e "Frottage" nelle nuove ricerche, la giovane arte di Giovanni Guida guarda a Max Ernst |url=https://www.ilgiornale.it/news/arte/grattage-e-frottage-nelle-nuove-ricerche-giovane-arte-2102509.html#google_vignette |website=Il Giornale |date=7 January 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Minucci |first=Emanuela |title=È il grande momento del "grattage": il pugile di Basquiat all'asta per 35 milioni di dollari. Valutazione record da Christie's per «Sugar Ray Robinson», mentre a Milano la mostra su «Max Ernst» attrae centinaia di visitatori e un giovane italiano, Giovanni Guida, seguace di uno dei padri del surrealismo, entra nelle enciclopedie del mondo |url=https://www.lastampa.it/cultura/2022/10/25/news/e_il_grande_momento_del_grattage_il_pugile_di_basquiat_allasta_per_35_milioni_di_dollari-12198325/ |access-date=19 September 2025 |website=La Stampa |date=25 October 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cordero |first=Nicolás |date=25 May 2026 |title=Giovanni Guida, considerado el 'sucesor de Remedios Varo', es el italiano que está renovando el grattage |url=https://www.quien.com/cultura/2026/04/22/giovanni-guida-considerado-el-sucesor-de-remedios-varo-es-el-italiano-que-esta-renovando-el-grattage |website=Quién}}</ref> His grattage technique involves the progressive sealing of successive pictorial layers with specific resins, in order to preserve their chromatic brilliance.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Giovanni Guida, biography and works |url=https://www.arte.it/artista/giovanni-guida-619 |access-date=19 September 2025 |website=Arte.it}}</ref>
Notable works include: {{lang|la|Apotheosis}} (2014);<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Escareño |first=Sergio |title=Giovanni Guida explora lo surreal del 'grattage' en sus obras |url=https://vanguardia.com.mx/show/artes/conoce-al-talento-italiano-giovanni-guida-explora-lo-surreal-del-grattage-en-sus-obras-BE12166610 |website=Vanguardia (periódico mexicano) |date=2 June 2024 }}</ref> ''God fights the Coronavirus (And you'll be cured of all diseases.. and I'll take care of you''),<ref name=":0" /> created during the COVID-19 pandemic;<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ilmattino.it/napolismart/cultura/coronavirus_illustrazione_artista_campano_virale-5170287.html|title=Coronavirus, l'illustrazione dell'artista campano è «virale»|date=30 November 2025|website=Il Mattino|last=Sorrentino|first=Emanuela}}</ref> ''Etherea'' (2021),<ref name=":0" /> ''Take Me to Church'' (2022)<ref name=":4" /> and ''Apotheosis of Dante Alighieri in Florence'': {{lang|it|Amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle}} (2020), to commemorate the 700th anniversary of Dante's death.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Verna |first=Giorgia |title=L'artista partenopeo Giovanni Guida erede di Ernst: è già nelle enciclopedie |url=https://www.ilmattino.it/societa/persone/giovanni_guida_artista_ultime_notizie-6941458.html |access-date=21 September 2025 |website=Il Mattino |date=21 September 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sapere.it/enciclopedia/Guida%2C+Giovanni+.html|title=Guida Giovanni in Sapere|website=Encyclopaedia Sapere|date=30 November 2025}}</ref>
==External links== {{Commons category}} *[https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/giovanni-guida/ Giovanni Guida in Italian Encyclopaedia of Science, Literature and Arts, Treccani] *[http://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500491384 Giovanni Guida in Vocabulary Union List of Artist Names] *[https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL10223090A/Giovanni_Guida Giovanni Guida in Open Library] *[https://www.beweb.chiesacattolica.it/persone/persona/10144/ Giovanni Guida in BeWeB] *[https://en.isabart.org/person/171120 Giovanni Guida in AbART]
== References ==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Guida, Giovanni}} Category:Italian painters Category:1992 births Category:Living people Category:Italian contemporary artists