PIERO MANZONI (1933-1963) ACHROME signed "Pi

Provenance
Collection Manzoni, MILAN

Exhibited
BOLOGNA, Galleria d'Arte Moderna, PIERO MANZONI, February 28-May 4, 1997

Literature
G. Celant, PIERO MANZONI: CATALOGO GENERALE, MILAN, 1975, p. 261, no. 2 ppo (illustrated)

...I AM QUITE UNABLE TO UNDERSTAND THOSE PAINTERS WHO, WHILST DECLARING AN ACTIVE INTEREST IN MODERN PROBLEMS, STILL CONTINUE EVEN TODAY TO CONFRONT A PAINTING AS IF IT WAS A SURFACE TO BE FILLED WITH COLOUR AND FORMS ACCORDING TO AN AESTHETIC TASTE WHICH CAN BE MORE OR LESS APPRECIATED, MORE OR LESS GUESSED AT. THEY PAINT A LINE IN, STEP BACK, LOOK AT THEIR WORK WITH HEAD ON ONE SIDE AND HALF-CLOSED EYE, THEY JUMP FORWARD AGAIN AND ADD ANOTHER LINE OR COLOUR AND THESE GYMNASTICS CONTINUE UNTIL THE PAINTING IS FILLED IN AND THE CANVAS IS COVERED: THE PAINTING IS FINISHED: A SURFACE OF UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES IS NOW REDUCED TO A KIND OF RECEPTACLE INTO WHICH UNNATURAL COLOURS AND ARTIFICIAL MEANINGS ARE FORCED. WHY SHOULDN'T THIS RECEPTACLE BE EMPTIED? WHY SHOULDN'T THIS SURFACE BE FREED? WHY NOT SEEK TO DISCOVER THE UNLIMITED MEANING OF TOTAL SPACE, OF PURE AND ABSOLUTE LIGHT.
Piero Manzoni quoted in AZIMUTH MAGAZINE: THE NEW ARTISTIC EXPRESSION, issue no. 2, 1960, n.p.