was one of the most discussed Italian artists of the twentieth century: he expressed his art through different techniques , namely painting, sculpture and architecture, freeing himself as much as possible from all the conventions linked to the artistic world , starting from the need to limit photographic reproductions of his works to a minimum up to the rejection of certain terminologies such as “performance” or “conceptual art”.

For De Dominicis, the main focus had to be art itself , the only way for him to investigate a series of themes he had focused on throughout his life: immortality , achieving the impossible , immobility , and ancient cults , particularly the Sumerian civilization . He often expressed his reasoning in a surreal or ironic way, for example by inserting unnaturally long noses on the faces of the protagonists and even on the skeletons, another recurring element in his artistic production.
He believed art to be a magical moment, not a tool for communication, and therefore rejected all the conventions and clichés surrounding it. For example, he explicitly opposed the use of certain terminology and considered the existence of an audience superfluous, as art could exist even without one. He was also known for refusing to have his own work photographed.

His artwork focuses on recurring themes such as death and immortality; he explores the ability to achieve the impossible and to halt the irreversibility of time, and elucidates the role of art in this regard; simultaneously, he emphasizes the necessity of refuting the irreversibility of scientific phenomena. He explicitly expressed these themes in his 1966 work, *On the Immortality of the Body*. Furthermore, de Dominises frequently used alchemical and religious archetypal symbols, such as crosses, pyramids, stars, and geometric shapes, and the profiles of his figures often feature long, unnatural noses. The nose holds special symbolic meaning, as it connects the most "spiritual" part of the face—the soul—to the mouth below.

De Dominises's creative career can be divided into two distinct periods. The first period, from the late 1960s to the late 1970s, was labeled "conceptual art," but this definition later proved too hasty and superficial, objected to by both the artist and critics. The second period, from the early 1980s until his death in 1990, was characterized by an innovative revival of figurative painting.

In de Dominicis's early works, a rod-like object frequently appears. For example, in *Untitled* (1967-1969), a long, golden rod is placed there, its tip touching the edge of a boulder. The point of contact between the rod and the stone is only millimeters, so small that it can barely support the balance of the elements in the picture. Thus, a sense of disharmony is created, occurring in a time that is both nonexistent and infinite. In *Balance* (1969), the golden rod is depicted as suspended in the air, as if it were the starting point of the entire work. The pole is surrounded by invisible objects, such as cubes, cylinders, and pyramids, described as invisible because the artist merely outlined their contours on the floor.

His research quickly shifted to performance art, aiming to explore the most elusive, intangible, and hidden aspects of art. However, de Dominicis did not use the term "performance," as he considered it closer to the realm of theater than art. In fact, unlike the performance art of other contemporary artists, de Dominicis rarely placed figures in motion, with the exception of two films created in 1969: *Trying to Form a Square Instead of a Circle Around a Stone Falling into Water* and *Trying to Fly*. In the first film, de Dominicis returned to the concept of a dialogue between squares and circles, reflecting on movement as an intangible presence, presented in the form of waiting or anticipating a stone falling into water. Also created in 1969 is the sculpture *Time, Error, Space*, composed of a human skeleton lying on the ground wearing roller skates, balancing a pole with one finger while leading a dog skeleton. In this work, "space" is constituted by verticality, while "error" is constituted by the desire for horizontal movement, or more precisely, by the desire for acceleration implied by the skates.