Two years after the pandemic outbreak, Mazzoleni returns to Art Basel Miami Beach to present a selection of works by: Carla Accardi; Giacomo Balla; Alberto Burri; Giorgio de Chirico; Lucio Fontana; Jannis Kounellis; Giorgio Morandi; Giulio Paolini; Michelangelo Pistoletto; Yvaral; Victor Vasarely.
Encompassing pre- and post-war experimentations and achievements, the display features artworks by Italian Masters of the first half of the 20th century, such as **Giacomo Balla **(1871–1958), key figure of Italian Futurism, who is represented by Linee Forze di Mare – Rosa, ca. 1919. The work's bright pink shades reflect the artist's view on the use of colour, which was detailed in his Manifesto of Colour published in 1918. For Balla, 'Italian Futurist painting—being and having to be more and more like an explosion of colour—can only be playful, bold, airy, electrically washed in white, dynamic, violent, interventionist.' This concept is in contrast with the muted colour palette used by Giorgio Morandi (1890–1964) in his still life _F__i__ori, _1949, whose thin layers of light paint create a lyrical aura. The utmost mystical atmosphere is found in the oeuvre of Giorgio de Chirico (1888–1978), best known for his metaphysical characters, scenes, and ambiances. Il Trovatore, 1950, plunges the viewer into an otherworldly dimension surrounded by multiple light sources, exaggerated long shadows, and illogical perspectives.
The display will also feature post-war works focussing on the exploration of space and visual languages. Lucio Fontana (1899–1968), father of the Spatialist movement and celebrated for his revolutionary Tagli or 'cuts', is included with 1960s works from the 'Concetto Spaziale' series. By the seemingly simple act of the cut, the artist defines the canvas as portal to another dimension. Carla Accardi (1924–2014) investigates abstract spatiality in her 'labyrinths', as shown in Labirinto Rosso, 1955. The work visually describes Accardi's "poetics of the sign" as not only a way for the unconscious to unload, but as a precise form of artistic expression and language.
A similar interest in language, albeit differing in mediums, poetics, and intentions, is also found in the series 'Alfabeti' ('Alphabets') by **Jannis Kounellis **(1936–2017), of which Untitled (JJ), 1961, is an example. For this series, Jannis Kounellis, leader of Arte Povera renowned for his use of day-to-day materials, created a cryptic pictorial language made of stencilled letters, numbers, and arrows, inscribing it in an ambiguous dimension between recurring patterns and human touch. The use of materials will be further explored through works by Alberto Burri (1915–1995), founder of the art of matter. These will include Cretto, 1976, a powerful white acrovinyl on Celotex. By carefully balancing a mix of kaolin and Vinavil glue, Burri was able to control the cracking of the surface, resulting in works characterised by strong compositional balance that expose the physicality of materials.
Works questioning identity through the human gaze by contemporaneous Arte Povera's pioneers Giulio Paolini (b. 1940) and **Michelangelo Pistoletto **(b. 1933) are in dialogue with each other. If Paolini's L'Altra Figura ('The Other Figure'), 1983, represents an enigmatic gazing scene from which the viewer seems excluded, Pistoletto's _Cabina Telefonica _('Phone Box'), 2007, directly urges the viewer to enter the artwork and stare into their own reflection in the mirroring surface of the piece. In both works, the act of seeing and being seen merge in a fragmentation of perspectives and identities.
A final focus on Op Art will feature works by the movement's 'grandfather' Victor Vasarely (1906–1997) and his son Yvaral (Jean-Pierre Vasarely, 1934–2002), who both played a key role on the use of optical and kinetic illusions with colours, shapes, and spaces. With Victor Vasarely's Einstein-Ker, 1976, the colourful dynamic elements and the multiple horizons are layered with repeating lines which seem to rotate as the viewer looks at the centre of the piece. Yvaral's Marilyn Numérisée, 1994, is an example of the artist's computer-aided paintings based on digital analysis where iconic images have been broken up into measurable elements, inviting the viewer to take a closer look.