It’s a good thing I have this blog to remind me of where I’ve been. Today’s path: have just re-started reading of Part Object Part Sculpture by Helen Molesworth (recommended by Ruth Hadlow, and which I had been reading back on 27-Mar-2016); have read and re-read a page about Alberto Burri (more on that later); which reminded me of Elwyn Lynn’s work (2-Oct-2016); in a post which expressed a theme of interest to me – “Expressing a sense of place (and time). Catching a moment”; which circles back to Confluence and my goal to “Capture that moment of coherence and balance…” (14-Apr-2018).

Alberto Burri
Sacking and Red (1954)
https://www.wikiart.org/en/alberto-burri/sacking-and-red-1954
Texture of torn fabrics – cut, torn, stitched, sutured. Craters and holes, glimpses of layers. Encrusted, congealing, punctured. Colour – “Burri works with color as if it were a collage material like hessian, which he can cut up into pieces and stitch together again… Burri explores the color of touch in the thick, haptic surface of collage.” Palpable materiality.
Thrilling stuff, and a quick duckduckgo search provided mouthwatering images.
Then a bit of sobering up. From a wealth of material relating to Alberto Burri: The trauma of painting at the Guggenheim in 2015/2016 https://www.guggenheim.org/exhibition/alberto-burri-the-trauma-of-painting I learnt of Burri’s experiences as a doctor and then prisoner of war in WWII. Those sutures and slashes in his works seem less benign. (Yet another aside – the horrors of all wars. Burri; ANZAC day; at the MCA Chia-Wei Hsu in a deeply saddening video artwork telling the forgotten story of Chinese nationalist fighters become Cold War confidential informants for the CIA, trapped in space and time in Thailand).

Alberto Burri
Iron (1960)
https://www.wikiart.org/en/alberto-burri/iron-1960
I don’t know where this is going, but felt the need to mark the place so I can recognise it next time around.
Some more links
http://www.fondazioneburri.org/en/
https://chloenelkin.wordpress.com/2012/03/27/worth-the-walk-down-upper-street-burri-at-the-estorick/
Hi, You saw and commented on my small boat assemblages at Artisans in the Gardens a couple of years ago. I currently have an exhibition at Chrissie Cotter Gallery and was wondering if you would like to drop by. The exhibition is call Vessels of Mass Consumption and consists of boat assemblages, wire and stitched baskets all created from urban discards and ocean detritus. It runs next Thursday to Sunday 11-4 and I will be there the whole time. I would love to meet you as I find your commentrary and thoughts both inspiring and thought provoking! Cheers, Nicole de Mestre
Thanks for the kind words and the invite Nicole. The photos on the gallery website look enticing. Hope to see you there on Friday.