biography
Born in La Spezia in 1975, Carlo Zanni is an Italian conceptual artist with a distinctive approach engaging in parallel practices of painting and web-based art, each exploring the same subject matter from different perspectives. A pioneer in the use of third-party Internet data, since 1999 his practice has explored the public space of the web creating time-based ephemeral works that combine a pronounced social consciousness with a primary focus on privacy, identity, and the self. As a painter, he focuses his attention on a new kind of “shared political landscape” that emerged with the Internet and that keeps transforming all human activities and relationships.
Zanni has been the recipient of a Rhizome.org commission and he has shown in galleries and museums worldwide including: National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan; Arts Santa Mònica, Barcelona; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Marsèlleria, Milan; Tent, Rotterdam; MAXXI, Rome; MoMA PS1, New York; Borusan Center, Istanbul; PERFORMA 09, NY and ICA, London. Carlo Zanni is the author of the book “Art in the Age of the Cloud”, and recently he has been invited to introduce his practice at the 10th edition of “Talking Galleries” in Barcelona. His work appears in more than 50 books and catalogs, as well as in hundreds of articles and interviews online.
Check-Out Paintings
In his latest series, Carlo Zanni continues his distinctive approach, engaging in parallel practices of painting and web-based art, each exploring the same subject matter. The Check-Out Paintings represent a deep dive into the social and psychological impact of eCommerce. Rooted in memories of checkout pages—a symbolic limbo preceding the dopamine rush of purchase—they evoke the addictive nature of online shopping, paired with its pandemic-driven role as a lifeline. Online buying, portrayed as a pursuit of happiness and escape from reality, evokes a complex interplay of emotions, from joy to guilt. Unlike earlier works, these paintings eschew realism for abstract compositions, capturing inner experiences rather than external observations. The muted color palette and subtle details render them almost invisible online, underscoring their demand for in-person engagement and time. Drawing inspiration both from On Kawara’s ability to catch time and reality, and Agnes Martin’s minimalist approach, these works transcend modernist values, offering condensed narratives of contemporary themes like anxiety, desire, and politics. Despite their abstract appearance, they subtly reference current events, such as wars, migration tragedies, and pandemics, providing a space for meditation amidst societal upheaval. The inclusion of “clickbait” elements like colored shapes, emojis, or japanese emoticons —a nod to eCommerce tactics—invites viewers to explore deeper layers, ultimately exceeding expectations in their complexity and depth.
Save me for later
“Save me for later” (2022) is a bot browsing Amazon.com, continuously adding products to the cart that is visible in the right sidebar. When the cart reaches its limit, it automatically moves products to the “saved for later list”, making room for freshly added new ones. This repetitive and almost hypnotic web performance, with apparently no beginning and no end, is both a pursuit of happiness, as society has taught us, and a place of escapism and daydreaming. “Save me for later” is consciously slow and cryptic, and as it is playing out in real-time, on the real Amazon website, the items that appear reflect our present time just as the subtle writings on the abstract “Check Out paintings” (2022 – ongoing) take us back to the world we are living in.
