Wikipedia:Guido Dettoni della Grazia

Guido Dettoni della Grazia is an Italian visual & tactile artist known for his work dealing with “perception, awareness, states of being, and the Divine." He divides his time between Barcelona, Spain, and Assisi, Italy. He describes his work with the verbal portmanteau YADA. YAD is the hand, and AYIN, the eye. YADA reminds us how the hands see and the eyes touch. While Dettoni chose not to enter the conventional art market when he was starting out, several private collectors purchased his work from time to time, as they have done informally since the 1960s, and the movement has grown.

Early life
He was born in Milan, Italy to Maria della Grazia, a sculptor, and Franco Dettoni, an entrepreneur and inventor. He has a brother, Luca. As a child he played in the park at Milan's Castello Sforzesco, where his experience with the mud at the foot of a fountain inspired his first efforts. This experience of what he called "gameplay and joy" led him to create mud shapes that appeared and disappeared in his hands as he named them, and this hand-mold style continues in his work to this day. Dettoni attended a Jesuit school, San Carlo Borromeo, in Milan. One day when he was 14, his Latin class read the story of the Greek philosopher Bias of Priene in Cicero’s ''Paradoxa Stoicorum." Bias of Priene was asked why he did not carry anything with him as he fled the destruction of his hometown. He replied: “omnia mea mecum porto” (I carry all my things with me). Dettoni considered this a revelation. At 15, the artist left Milan and moved to Germany, escaping the comforts and norms of the familiar. He worked in a factory near Düsseldorf while he trained in traditional pencil with local artists, and learned more about color. Between 1960 and 1965, Dettoni moved from Germany to Austria, and then to Spain and Venezuela. In 1965 Dettoni created with the suburban Art Workshop in Caracas, Venezuela.

Early Works
Dettoni created his painting and sculpture, Flying Man, in Granada, Spain in 1964. He presented Flying Man in a collective exhibition at the Terrassa Art Centre, Amics de les Arts-Barcelona in 1965. Dettoni was part of a painting exhibition jointly with the Ukrainian painter Ihor Kordiuk at the Haus der Begegnung in Munich, Germany in 1969.

1970s-1990s, Resistance to commercial success, travel on "the searching path"
In 1970 Dettoni decided not to participate in the art market, and instead entrusted most of his most to the Siemens Foundation in Munich. He traveled widely, primarily in Italy, West Africa, China and Switzerland, from 1970 to 1991. He also visited Jerusalem several times and described his visits as part of his “searching path."

Studio NUN, Italy
During this time, Dettoni painted, sculpted, worked in architecture and design, and co-founded Studio NUN for graphic and industrial design with his brother Gian Luca Dettoni in Milan, Italy. For two years he held workshops in Geneva, Switzerland. While in Geneva, Dettoni conceived Digging Action, a sculptural connection to the earth and soil of a chosen place.

1970-1991, DIGGING ACTION, Spain, Italy, France
Dettoni first conceived of the Digging Action artistic process in Geneva, sometime between 1970-1991. In a Digging Action, Dettoni kneels down and leans his body forward to meet the earth with his hands. In this encounter between the artist and the soil, the artist’s experiences, imaginings, and memory come into contact with and connect to the ancient memory of that unique place. Dettoni discovers what is there, emerging from this encounter, and a sculpture is shaped in the soil using his hands. Dettoni describes this process of art and creation as being “witnessed by Earth Christ." In 2005 Dettoni performed a Digging Action of Saint Félix in Vilafranca del Penedés, Spain. He then cast the soil sculpture in bronze, and presented a video, along with the bronze sculpture, at the Spanish Embassy, the Holy See in Rome, Italy, and at Université Catholique in Paris, France.

1972, HANDMATTER (Global), and HANDMATTER INSTITUTE
Dettoni first envisioned the Handmatter artistic process in 1972. In this process, the artist's eyes are typically covered with a blindfold while their hands interact with a pliant material such as clay or wax. During the process of creation, the artist is exposed to other kinds of stimuli, such as music or a story, a fragrance, a taste, or silence. The intention of this exposure is to “specifically address the senses and/or the intellect, awakening memories and emotions of participants.” In 1972 he launched the creative collective Handmatter Institute. Although he resisted public exhibits, in 1992 he held YADA at the Institut d’Estudis Ilerdencs in Lleida, Spain, and included both tactile sculpture and paintings. Since then, Dettoni has participated in regular public exhibits. He became convinced that his tactile and visual approach to sculpture connects us to latent imagery within ourselves. These are some of our "deepest and perhaps forgotten memories,” and they come back as we approach sculpture created in this way. As Dettoni refined the Handmatter artistic process, he also began facilitating Handmatter workshops.

Handmatter Workshops, Spain
Between 1993 – 1999 Dettoni developed and offered Handmatter Workshops at the Purísima School for Deaf Children in Palma de Majorca, Spain, “experimenting with his findings on the synergy between touch, the other senses and the learning processes, demonstrating the possible integration of the Handmatter methodology with pedagogy.”

Handmatter Sakpata, Bénin
In 1997 and 1998 the Handmatter Sakpata experience took place in Cotonou, Bénin, West Africa.

Santfelix Handmatter, Spain
The Santfelix Handmatter experience, to discover the virtual representation of Saint Fèlix, took place in 2005 with the children of Vilafranca, Spain.

Handmatter Quixotesancho, Spain
Handmatter Quixotesancho, also in 2005, included a workshop with seniors and a workshop with children in Argamasilla de Alba, La Mancha, Spain. A rotating version of the sculpture created during the Quixotesancho Handmatter workshop was produced in 2006.

Rosemary's Flower Handmatter, Spain
The Rosemary’s Flower Handmatter collective experience was hosted at IES Bendinat, Calvià, Majorca, Spain.

Herz Jesu Handmatter, Germany
Herz Jesu Handmatter collective experience was hosted at the Herz-Jesu-Kirche (Sacred Heart Parish) in Herne, Germany in 2006.

Sound and Touch Handmatter
In 2014 he held a Sound and Touch Handmatter experience in Barcelona, Spain. At this Handmatter experience Miura Taro played the Shakuhachi flute while the participants created shapes.

Handmatter Singapore
That same year, a Handmatter experience took place with the parishioners of St. Ignatius Church in Singapore.

Touching Tenderness and Peace
Touching Tenderness and Peace, a six-day Handmatter performance during “The Days of Faith” in Prague took place in 2015. The Shapes of Silence Handmatter experience at Earthship Isla Verde in Els Hostalets de Pierola, Barcelona, Spain, and the Maria Madre Handmatter experience at Colegio Pureza de Maria in San Cugat, Barcelona, Spain were also hosted in 2015.

Handmatter Institute
At the end of 2016 he founded the Handsmatter Institute. The Institute’s mission is to “promote, through the Handmatter process, creativity, self-knowledge, collective-cooperative action and therefore personal growth, as well as developing all the applications involved in this creative artistic practice.”

Paraula-Forma Handmatter, Spain
In 2016 Dettoni hosted the Paraula-Forma (word-shape) Handmatter performance with the poet Carles Duarte, at the Fundación Carulla in Esplugues de Francolí, Catalonia, Spain.

Handmatter Experience, Finland
That same year, a Handmatter experience was included at the Peace Network Gathering in Mäntyharju, Finland. In 2017, Peace Network Gatherings in Assisi, Italy, Prague, Czech Republic, Mäntyharju, Finland, and Long Island, New York included Handmatter experiences.

Handmatter Reconciliation, Colombia
Handmatter Reconciliation, a collective art experience about reconciliation, was hosted at the Museo Casa de la Memoria in Medellín, Colombia in 2018.

1993, THE HANDS SEE, THE EYES TOUCH, Spain
"The Hands See, The Eyes Touch" exhibit opened in 1993 at the Castle of L’Hospitalet de l’Infant in Tarragona, Spain, and included his now-famous tactile sculptures. This was also the first public presentation of Dettoni’s "Aquarium," in which two identical, but differently weighted, Eagle sculptures dance. He used turbines to make invisible currents and animated the sculptures. Each sculpture moved in a unique pattern, thanks to intentional differences in weight.

1995, EAGLES, Spain
Dettoni created his first Eagle sculpture blindfolded, with only his experience of touch to "see" and shape the piece. It was this process that inspired the title of the exhibit: The Hands See, The Eyes Touch. Dettoni then made the second Eagle sculpture identical to the first. These sculptures “awakened in [him] the need for hands-free viewing, unsupported on any plane space. To be able to look at them from different points of view, each a still image in two dimensions." In 1995, the Serra Art Foundation in Majorca, Spain opened an outdoor installation of "Eagles," featuring two large, stone versions. That same year, Dettoni also presented his YADA concept and work at the Universidad de las Americas, Puebla, Cholula, México. Between 2001-2002, Dettoni exhibited Eagle for a full year at the church of Sant Anoniet in Palma de Majorca, Spain. In 2001, he constructed an outdoor installation at Plaça Alexandre Jaume in Palma de Majorca, Spain. It consisted of two overlapped enlargements of Dettoni’s sculpture, made of stone. In 2006 he constructed an installation of Eagles at the Scholastic Institute IES Bendina in Calvià -Mallorca, Spain. This installation of Eagles consisted of two enlargements of the Eagles sculpture, made of fiberglass.

1993-1995, SCHOOL OF THE EARTH, Spain
From 1993 to 1995 Dettoni led the School of the Earth project at the Foundation Teresa de Oliva of Majorca, in Spain. This agriculture-oriented center provided training and employment for artists living with disabilities. He also coordinated research and publication of "Artesans del Pla de Mallorca," a book on the craft traditions of Majorca, Spain.

1998, MARIA, Mexico, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Netherlands
Maria is an iconic sculpture of Mary, mother of Jesus. Dettoni first shaped the handheld Maria sculpture while blind-folded, using wax he bought in a market in Puebla, Mexico. On January 8th, 1998, Dettoni produced Maria at his studio in Mallorca, Spain. The sculpture was first publicly presented at an exhibition in 1998 at the Pia Almoina (Diocesan Museum) of Barcelona. In exhibitions, Dettoni replicates the Maria sculpture, sometimes in a variety of wood types, sometimes in a variety of marbles. Versions of the handheld sculpture are often displayed in glass tubes, arranged in the shape of a cross or a half or nearly complete square. Dettoni also has produced multiple enlargements of the sculpture for specific exhibits. The first presentation of Dettoni’s Maria sculpture took place at an exhibition spanning 1998-99 at the Pia Almoina (Diocesan Museum) of Barcelona. Since 1999 Maria has been exhibited across Europe and in Asia. In 1999, Maria was exhibited at L’albergueria in Vic, Spain, Palau Robert in Barcelona, Spain, Antic Refectori dels Canonges de la Catedral in Tarragona, Spain, Pontificia Universitas Gregoriana in Rome, Italy, Catedral de Santa Maria in Tortosa, Spain, and the Basílica di San Clemente in Rome, Italy. The exhibitions in 2000 included Fontana d’Or in Girona, Spain, Santa Maria delle Rose in Assisi, Italy, Duomo Cattedrale in Verona, Italy, Iglesia de San Juan de los Panetes in Zaragoza, Spain, and Església Nacional Española in Rome, Italy. In 2007, Dettoni created a digital art piece depicting an apparition of Mary, mother of Jesus at the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Pontmain in France. He also created a video and booklet about this digital piece. Maria was exhibited for one year between 2000-2001 at the church of Sant Antoniet in Palma-Majorca, Spain. Later in 2001, the sculpture was exhibited at Alte Nikolaikirche in Frankfurt, Germany. A permanent outdoor marble enlargement of the Maria sculpture was installed at Colegio La Purísima, Palma de Majorca, Spain in 2001. In 2002, the sculpture was exhibited at San Martín Pinario in Santiago de Compostela, Spain and a permanent exhibition of a version of Maria, entitled Maria Assisi, was installed Santa Maria delle Rose in Assisi, Italy. Maria was included in another year long exhibit in 2002-2003, this time at the Cathedral of Salamanca in Spain. In 2003, Maria was exhibited at Chiesetta di San Girolamo in Mezzago, Milan, Italy. During 2003 – 2004, Maria Alpha-Omega was exhibited at Heinrich Pesch Haus in Ludwigshafen, Germany. In 2004 Maria was exhibited at the Saint-Sulpice in Paris, France and a second concert for Maria took place the Lower Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi, Italy. Maria Alpha-Omega was exhibited for one year at the Cripta Gaudì in the Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain in 2004-2005. In September 2005 Dettoni “realized he was not satisfied with the form shaped,” and began work to remake it. From 2005 to 2007, Maria was exhibited at the Egreja de Santa Isabel, the Basílica da Estrela, and the Universidade Católica in Lisbon, Portugal and at the Museo Pio XII in Braga, Portugal. In 2010 and 2011, Maria Alpha-Omega was displayed at Osnabrück’s Cathedral in Germany. Maria was exhibited in 2011 and 2012, at the Basílica de Sant Miquel in Palma de Majorca, Spain. In 2012, the Maria Assisi exhibition at Santa Maria delle Rose in Assisi, Italy was remodeled for its’ new opening. In 2014, an enlarged, marble version of Maria was exhibited at Saint Ignatius Church in Singapore. Maria ALPHA-OMEGA was permanently installed at the Choir of Our Lady of the Snow in Prague, Czech Republic in 2016. The installation was funded by NESHER Foundation in The Netherlands. The first presentation and installation of a tactile and visual experience of Maria, entitled Maria Stele, took place at the Basìlica dos Martires in Lisbon, Portugal during 2016 and 2017. In 2017, Maria was exhibited at the Cripta di San Rufino in Assisi, Italy, the Policlinico in Lampedusa, the Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy, the Tufo in Carsoli, Italy, and the Ospedale Pediatrico Meyer in Florence, Italy. A new enlarged version of the Maria sculpture was achieved in 2019.

2000, THE FACE OF CHRIST: Italy, Spain, France
In 2000 Dettoni presented the Face of Christ at Santa Maria in Montesanto in Rome, Italy. He first modeled it in wax, working on Easter Sunday, completely blindfolded. Dettoni then copied the wax sculpture in wood, creating a full-sized wooden cross large enough for an adult. The sculpture is hidden by a reflective screen, and viewers can only experienced it by touch. When a person touches the sculpture, that person’s face is reflected on the screen. He installed Face of Christ permanently in 2001 at the church sanctuary of Saint Michel in Palma de Majorca, Spain. Face of Christ was installed for one year during 2006 – 2007 at the Basilica of Notre-Dame du Folgoët in Bretagne, France. In 2007 the work was installed permanently at the Sanctuaire de Pontmain in France.

2003, MATER TERRA, Spain
Mater Terra, a handheld sculpture and its enlargement, were exhibited at the First Congress in Manresa, Spain. In 2009 Dettoni conceived of and produced the handheld sculpture Mater Terra (Mother Earth), as well as an enlargement of the handheld version. He also designed and constructed a Mother Earth Circle installation at Earthship ISLA VERDE in Els Hostaletes de Pierola, Spain. This installation consisted of seven enlargements of the Mater Terra sculpture. One enlargement of the whole sculpture is situated in the center, and is surrounded by six, half-pieces of Mater Terra, placed at various angles. He designed this installation for children to play on and to “comprehend experientially...the process leading to unity.”

2004, TAU, Italy
He also created Tau, a handheld sculpture in wax, in Assisi, Italy in 2004. In 2005, an enlargement of the sculpture Tau was exhibited for one month at the Basilica Superiore di San Francesco in Assisi, Italy. The enlargement was two meters high and carved out of linden wood. In 2012 a permanent installation of a two-meter high enlargement of Tau, carved in linden wood, was established at the Maria Exhibition at Santa Maria delle Rose in Assisi, Italy. This same year, Dettoni produced a wood carving entitled Chalice and Paten for the first Eucharistic celebration of the priest Mattia Magoni at Trescore Balneario, in Bergamo, Italy.

2006, BETHLEHEM CROSS, Portugal, Spain
In 2006, he installed Bethlehem Cross at the Basílica Nossa Senhora dos Mártires in Lisbon, Portugal. In that same year, it was installed at the Cova de Sant Ignasi de Loyola in Manresa, Spain during the Easter Triduum. He installed Jupiter at Platja de Sabinosa in Tarragona, Spain. This installation consisted of eight enlargements of Jupiter stacked vertically as a column, and eight enlargements of the sculpture placed to resemble and be utilized as benches.

2008, 2009, DEAFBLIND SHAPE, Spain, USA, Canada
In 2008 and 2009, Handmatter performances, workshops and seminars with Deafblind members of the Deafblind Catalan Association were hosted in Barcelona, Spain. A number of experimental Handmatter workshops took place around Italy in 2011, 2012, and 2013. Handmatter performances, workshops, and seminars were held at the 2013 International Symposium held by the Texas School for Blind and Visually Impaired (TSVBI) in Austin, Texas. In 2009 Dettoni conceived of and produced his handheld sculpture Deafblind Shape, a symbol of Deafblindness. He held Handmatter performances, workshops and seminars at the Canadian Deafblind Association (CDBA) in Paris, Ontario, and a Handmatter tactile performance was hosted at the Caixa Forum European Conference of Deafblindness in Barcelona, Spain in 2014.

2007-8, MATER LACTEA, Spain
Between 2007 and 2008, Dettoni held 13 workshops in Catalonia, Spain. These workshops, entitled Mater Lactea (Mother's Milk), were hosted specifically to facilitate artistic creation for breastfeeding mothers, and as an aesthetic inquiry into the world of breastfeeding. First, the mothers would use wax to create hand-held shapes, without the use of sight. The mothers would then look at the piece of art they had produced with wax and interpret it in whatever way they were inspired. The mothers’ interpretations included everything from poems, to songs, to written stories. Informed by this experience, Dettoni produced a handheld sculpture entitled Mater Lactea.

2014, RESURRECTION, Singapore, Italy
In 2014, an enlargement of Dettoni’s Maria sculpture carved in marble and Dettoni’s Resurrection sculpture, also carved in marble, were exhibited at the Saint Ignatius Church in Singapore. It was presented and blessed by the Archbishop of Barcelona, Cardinal Luis Martinez Sistach at the Catalan Faculty of Theology. Then it was shipped to Singapore. That same year, a permanent installation of Face of Christ was added to the Maria exhibition in Assisi, Italy.

Collaborations
Dettoni held a painting exhibition jointly with the Ukrainian painter Ihor Kordiuk at the Haus der Begegnung in Munich, Germany in 1969. The Hands See, The Eyes Touch exhibit in 1993 at the Castle of L’Hospitalet de l’Infant included paintings by artist Montse Galserra. A concert for Maria, composed by Giuseppe Magrino, OFM, was held in 2003 at the San Rufino Cathedral in Assisi, Italy. The one-month installment of Tau at the Basilica Superiore di San Francesco in Assisi, Italy in 2005 was done specifically to coincide with a concert entitled “Embracing the Tau”, composed by Giuseppe Magrino, OFM In 2016 Dettoni hosted the Paraula-Forma (word-shape) Handmatter performance with the poet Carles Duarte, at the Fundación Carulla in Esplugues de Francolí, Catalonia, Spain. In 2017, Dettoni’s sculpture TO TURN THE OTHER CHEEK was included in the book “L’ull de la violencia” (The Eye of Violence) by Jaume Angelats Morató. Dettoni created illustrations for “Naufragis”, a book of poems by Carles Duarte i Montserrat, in 2019. Inspired by Dettoni’s Pau sculpture, composer Àlex Martínez composed and performed Pau Escolta in 2019. This composition is inspired by the sounds of the landscape recorded between the two parts of Dettoni’s Pau sculpture at the Els Hostalets de Pierola park in Barcelona, Spain.

Charity
Dettoni has facilitated Handmatter workshops for people experiencing deafness and deafblindness since 1993. He has also raised funds to finance interventions for the deafblind community in the USA, Canada, and Spain. Dettoni directs a portion of the sales of the Maria Iconic sculptures to help women and children in need. This has been always done as a non-public and undisclosed initiative.

Recognition
The Institute for the Promotion of the Catalan Culture awarded him the XXIX Premi Josep M. Batista I Roca – Memorial Enric Garriga Trullols in 2017, for his work spreading the Catalan Culture and language.

Personal life
Dettoni is married and has two daughters and a son. In 1998 Dettoni began signing his artwork Guido Dettoni della Grazia, instead of only Dettoni. This allowed him to include his mother’s surname, della Grazia.

General sources

 * http://www.nesher.org/descargas/98_2013.pdf
 * http://www.nesher.org/descargas/NESHER_1998-2016_eng.pdf
 * https://www.neshergallery.com/guido-dettoni-della-grazia/guido-dettoni-work-exhibits-installations/
 * https://sites.google.com/site/handsmatter/handsmatter_1
 * http://www.nesher.org/works.php
 * http://nesher.org/writing.php
 * http://maria.tk/