ALIGHIERO BOETTI

His fundamental concern with the relationship between “order” and “disorder” is manifest in his grid structures, derived from the “magical squares,” that feature sayings and aphorisms that stem from cultural, philosophical, mathematical and linguistic contexts. Throughout his career Boetti worked with a wide array of materials, tools, and techniques, including ball pens (biro) and even the postal system. However it is his fascination with patterns and his pataphysical approach to mathematics and seriality that mark him out as a kind of satirical cabbalist trying to identify the one key system that will perhaps reveal some kind of universal answer.

Initially showing in Milan and Turin, Boetti had his first US solo exhibition in New York at John Weber Gallery in 1973. He continued to show throughout Italy and the United States until his premature death in 1994. He has been honoured posthumously with several large-scale exhibitions, most notably at the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Vienna in 1997 and the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt am Main in 1998. The artist took part in Documentas 5, 1972, and 7, 1982, and the Venice Biennale, 1978, 1980, 1986, 1990, 1995. In 2001, the Venice Pavillon was completely dedicated to Alighiero e Boetti’s work. In 2012 the exhibition Game Plan, was shown at the MoMA New York.

Courtesy Sprüth Magers