Transparency
In this series, frieze d/e asks artists, curators or writers to reflect upon one word and its impact
In this series, frieze d/e asks artists, curators or writers to reflect upon one word and its impact
More than colours, what I’ve always loved are their combinations and the radiance that comes from them. Fluorescent green painted on transparent plastic evoked, for me, the most intense sunlight. I liked plastic and fluorescent colours. I wanted to dignify them because they were entirely light.
When I made these works, the traditional notion of painting no longer existed for me because I had exposed the support frame and made my own gestures anonymous. By using Sicofoil, I wanted to strip away everything that was unnecessary in art and to see what remained.
Bright, almost white light – fluorescent solar colours, plastic as something made of light, blended, fluent with the surrounding environment – was a way to take away all totemic value from painting. In the works in which I left the Sicofoil unpainted, I took great pleasure in provoking light – white reflexes where the plastic sheet folds or curls. This transparency and the airy light of Triplice tenda (Triple Tent, 1969–71), now in the collection of the Centre Pompidou, and Ambiente arancio (Orange Environment, 1967), which is in the collection of the Strasbourg Museum, came to me in a dream.
Translated from the Italian by Vincenzo Latronico & Rosalind Furness
