MoMA is currently showing Color Chart: reinventing color, 1950 to today (until 12 May), an anthology of colour-related artworks by famous artists. It’s a ’safe’ exhibition, nothing edgy, but very enjoyable and one gets the chance to see interesting works such as Baldessari’s video Six colorful inside jobs (1977), a few Sol LeWitt wall drawings, the omnipresent Buren stripes, François Morellet’s telephone directory painting, and Boetti’s solid-colour iron squares (most of which are in private collections, so a good chance to see them in the flesh). Seeing various works by Boetti (1940-1994) made me want to read a bit more about him hence an Art Container dedicated to him (yes, the second one in a row on an Arte Povera artist, but he did dissociate his work from that movement). In addition to the artistic interest there’s also one related to the subject of colour in art, culture and design. Seems something that comes out pretty frequently nowadays. A bit of words on Boetti from tate.org.uk:
Alighiero Boetti (b. 1940, Turin; d. 1994, Rome) worked with cement, cloth, electric light, wood and even the postal system. His array of techniques embraced embroidery, drawing, photocopying, printing, photography, construction and often involved collaboration with people both inside and outside the art world. With this diverse and democratic approach, he wanted to blur the boundaries between art and life, and to disseminate his art as widely as possible using the humblest of means. He rejected the strategies and materials of ‘high’ art in favour of ‘low’ forms such as craft and design. [...] Boetti was fascinated by the relationship between chance and order, systems of classification, and many aspects of culture, particularly non-Western traditions and practices. This global vision is reflected in his best-known works – the series of embroidered maps of the world, made in collaboration with crafts-workers in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Here, the shape of each country is embroidered with the design of its national flag, vividly illustrating our world of fiercely demarcated individual nation states. As Boetti’s works demonstrate, these boundaries are nevertheless involved in a constant process of flux and negotiation due to political events such as the reunification of Germany, or the collapse of the Soviet Union. Boetti disassociated himself from Arte Povera in the early 1970s.
[img 1 via artnet.com; img 2 via moma.org]
