An experimental exhibition took place in 1962 at the Milan and the Venice-based Olivetti shops, curated by Bruno Munari, and featuring innovative artists from the Gruppo T and Gruppo N, alongside Munari, Enzo Mari, Paul Bury and Getulio Alviani.
Alberto Biasi was part of the Gruppo N and, almost 60 years after that event, he's back in Venice for a retrospective at Palazzo Ferro Fini.
"Alberto Biasi. Tra realtà e immaginazione" (Alberto Biasi. Between Reality and Imagination; until 18th July) is a journey through Optical Art, perceptions and visual illusions.
His works feature indeed surfaces and images that change in accordance with the point of view of the spectator, giving the impression of an image in constant movement. Born in Padua in 1937, Biasi co-founded Gruppo N in 1960 and worked with them until 1967, but never abandoned his personal research and passion for visual illusions.
He took part in a lot of experimental events in the '60s, a decade in which Op Art was particularly appreciated and Biasi was considered at the time one of the main representatives of the Italian Optical movement together with Gianni Colombo e Getulio Alviani.
Throughout the years he became well-known for his deconstructed canvases that offered viewers multiple perspectives and exhibited both in Italy and abroad (his works were also featured in the seminal 1965 exhibition about kinetic art "The Responsive Eye" at New York's MoMa).
The event in Venice features a selection of works produced between the '60s and 2013 that highlight Biasi's technique and passion for dynamic perceptions. The exhibition is an exploration of four different production cycles - "Torsioni", "Ottico Cinetici", "Politipi" and "Uniche Tele".
"Torsions" includes bichromatic works based on classical geometries but made with PVC strips that allow the artist to come up with unusual visual effects; the "Optical Kinetics" section features instead works that show the artist's quest for innovative perspectives and dynamic tricks.
The "Polytypes", made between the '60s and the end of the '90s, are characterised by an overimposition of layers, and the last section - "Unique Canvases" - includes recent works painted on the back of a canvas, and therefore only visible through strategic cuts and torsions on the surface. The artist created these dynamic effects thanks to different painting techniques or unconventional materials such as PVC.
In all the sections there is a fluidity of forms, shapes and inspirations, if the artist explores any dichotomies he does so to create dialogues between them rather than juxtapositions.
Biasi often rediscovered and reinvented these cycles and techniques employed to make them throughout his career, combining unconventional materials and using different colours that seem to transform according to the point of view from which the viewer admires them.
"Between Reality and Imagination" is highly recommended to artists, graphic and fashion designers, but also to all the fans of Generative and Op Art who would like to rediscover this Italian master of mutating perspectives.
Image credits for this post
All images courtesy of Alberto Biasi Archive
1. Alberto Biasi, Rilievo ottico-dinamico, 1962
2. Alberto Biasi, Oggetto: gocce, 1971
3. Alberto Biasi, Dinamica dell'ombrello giapponese, 1991
4. Alberto Biasi, Va dove ti porta l'occhio, 1991
5. Alberto Biasi, Vedo oltre... ...un po' optical ...un po' cangiante, 2013,
6. Alberto Biasi portrait
7 - 10. Installation views of "Alberto Biasi. Between Reality and Imagination" at Palazzo Ferro Fini, Venice
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