Alighiero Boetti: Works on Paper 1967-1983

Works on paper by Alighiero Boetti, one of the most important and influential Italian artists of the twentieth century. The exhibition will present an extensive survey of Boetti’s works on paper of different dates, formats and sizes: from monochromatic to multi-coloured, and from formal rigour to a more expressionistic visual vocabulary.

Among the works are a group of biro works from the 1970s and 1980s. Notably Mettere al Mondo il Mondo (1973), La Metà e il Doppio (1974) and Quando le Parole Sono Stanche (1982), painstakingly executed by the artist’s assistants in his Rome atelier. Among them is a very rare “self-portrait” from 1973, titled Alighieroboetti, of which only two exist.

Alighiero Boetti was born in Turin in 1940. His first works created in the 1960s were object-based and fitted within the realms of Arte Povera. However, his work became progressively more like that of conceptual artists such as On Kawara (time) and Lawrence Wiener (language). Boetti used simple and often industrial materials, concentrating more on the creative conception of the work and leaving its execution to others – such as the embroideries produced by Afghani women. This also enabled Boetti to integrate Eastern culture and its tradition in his works (often represented by Farsi writing) given his interest in the principle of polar forces and harmonies, bridging West and East.