Pino Pascali was born in 1936 in Bari in Italy. He moved to Rome in 1955 to study painting at the academy of art. Contrasting illusion with reality is the key component to his work. Pascali held his first solo exhibition in 1965 where he showed "Fake Sculptures"; these were a series of shaped canvas pieces which appeared to be solid sculptures but were really canvas paintings. Later works included the "Weapon series"- as with the fake sculptures these were not what they first apepeared but were odds and ends collected and painted to resemble weapons. Once unable to kill, the weapon becomes an art object or even a toy. Although a major contributor to post war art, Pascali died at the young age of 32 in a tragic motor-bike accident.

Above: Pascali, Mons Veneris, 1964