Joseph Zuccarini (born April 26, 1952) is an artist who primarily creates assemblages of found and fabricated metal objects, glass, water, oil and other materials. He transforms them into meditative, ritualistic sculpture. His rich palette of brown, orange rust, pale yellow and black conjures the earthly elements, mortality, deterioration and the passage of time.
His paintings, monotypes, drawings and videos incorporate the same concepts as his sculptures.
Zuccarini was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and studied Film and Video at Temple University. In 1980 he moved to Reno in the Nevada desert. The brown, dry, minimal landscape has a strong influence on his work. He received his formal art education at the University of Nevada, Reno. Until 2005 he also worked in broadcast television and advertising. He now lives and works in New York.
Zuccarini's earliest works were brick assemblages but he soon felt a strong affinity for steel, especially rusted steel. Found steel objects from scrap yards comprise the majority of his works, though he sometimes rusts new steel fabrications. He is better known for his assemblages/constructions made of rusted found objects combined with broken glass pieces and slowly dripping water. The objects usually lie flat and focus on time and deterioration. The natural patina of rust develops character with age, acquiring an uneven skin.
Zuccarini often works on site-specific installations on a human scale.