matter, gesture, imprint, sign: the graphic work of Burri, Vedova, Kounellis, Paolucci and Benedetti

The exhibition belongs to the strand of the masters of the twentieth century. It presents an overview of the graphic and artistic research conducted by five outstanding figures of twentieth-century culture: Alberto Burri, Emilio Vedova, Jannis Kounellis, Flavio Paolucci and Mario Benedetti. Each of these artists is a protagonist of the fundamental stations of international art, who, in their diversity, explored new and fundamental paths of visual research. So it is “matter”, “gesture”, “imprint” and “sign” that characterise their expressive achievements and at the same time make visible the traces of an artistic path, as an authentic extension of their existence, finding in the instruments of new languages the involvement of human and social value. Known largely for their pictorial work, all five artists have always considered graphics as an artistic act of introspective research leading to an important output expressed, case by case, through the different techniques most suited to each artist: from etching to aquatint, vernis mou, drypoint, lithography, silkscreen printing and the various combinations of collage and singular materials such as carborundum.

The exhibition layout unfolds in the various rooms of the museum on a thematic-chronological principle that approaches each author in rapid succession, highlighting the creative and research processes of the work between graphics, drawing and painting, and even in some sculpture, with a total viewing of over a hundred works.

curated by Antonio d’Avossa, Nicoletta Ossanna Cavadini