Research on materials conducted by two leading figures in 20th-century Italian art, Enrico Prampolini (1894–1956) and Alberto Burri (1915–1995).
Prampolini Burri. Della Materia is the catalogue published on the occasion of the eponymous exhibition at the Collezione Giancarlo and Danna Olgiati in Lugano.
The exhibition investigates the use of alternative materials in art, in dialogue with and in contrast to traditional painting, tracing the evolution of experimental practices that emerged throughout the twentieth century in Italy. This continuous line of research into matter is exemplified in the work of Enrico Prampolini (Modena, 1894–Rome, 1956) and Alberto Burri (Città di Castello, 1915–Nice, 1995), both active in Rome.
Richly illustrated, the volume presents their exploration of the expressive potential of matter through the works on display, on loan from major international public and private collections. From Prampolini's Futurist mixed-media compositions to Burri's powerful material creations, the exhibition reveals how their radical use of matter captured the spirit of a complex and unsettling age, giving form to its intensity and dramatic force.
Essays by curators Gabriella Belli and Bruno Corà delve into the practices and œuvre of two seminal figures in twentieth-century Italian art.
