Alberto Burri | Grafica

Catalogue published for the exhibition “Alberto Burri | Grafica” (December 2nd 2021 to February 5th 2022).

Text by Riccardo Venturi, historian and art critic.

Alberto Burri is known as one of the greatest post-war artists, expressing an art in advance of his time. His genius lay in the idea of using everyday materials, raw materials that he cut, burned, and drilled were transformed, under his impulse, into incredible works of abstract art with raw textures.

The public knows the Italian master of informal art for the use of these raw materials, but part of his research focused on graphic production which he explored as a laboratory, a new field of experimentation. It is this part of his work, less known in France but just as exciting, that we want to highlight.

For more than four decades, Burri pushed the boundaries of materials and technology with the help of the best printers and master engravers. By means of serial research, Burri developed a vast technical repertoire to produce the Matterist effects of his paintings on paper and to provoke the spectators’ amazement.

By taking this production to such a high and demanding level of expression, Burri made it an autonomous work in its own right, which we are pleased to exhibit.