Extrogenated Hen (1983) Sculpture by Giorgio Bertin

T.A.EX. (total artistic exibition)Exponent of metropolitan expressionism, Giorgio Bertin lived in New York in the early 1980s where with permissions and the help of the Department of Health he made a documentary on the various phases of the expulsion of urban solid waste in this city : collection, land and river transport in incinerators or burial in sanitary landfills ( SPASMO-PLUS 1982 edizioni Stampa Alternativa Roma suppl. N.14276 ) .
During his stay in New York he participated several times in the T.A.EX. (total artistic exibition ) : huge "clandestine" art exhibitions held in large abandoned buildings in the extreme New York suburbs in which all forms of expression were allowed.The materials for figurative art : French doors, wood, metal' plastics, cardboard were largely salvaged from the areas surrounding the buildings chosen for the performances.
As also gleaned from various biographical fragments it seems that Jean Michel Basquiat himself participated both as a musician and as a painter in more than one of these performances. This is confirmed both by his graffitiism and use of reclaimed materials as well as by his expressive admixtures that indelibly link him to the founding elements of T.A.EX .
The term Garbart, from garbage, refuse and art adopted by Gorgio Bertin to define all his artistic production: painting and sculpture, was born within this unique and unrepeatable experience.

(Taken from the interview that appeared in the March 198 4 Panorama Monthly magazine )

• Nationality: ITALY
• Date of birth : 1939
• Artistic domains:
• Groups: Contemporary Italian Artists