Artist research 1- Alberto Burri

Artist Research 1= Alberto Burri 

Alberto Burri is a Italian painter born in 1915, he began his teenage years by studying medicine to eventually work in Africa as a doctor to the military. Alberto Burri had never had any interest in art before he was taken as a prisoner in 1943 and sent to Hereford, Texas. This is where his interest in art began as he started to paint, so when he was moving back to Italy he decided to move to Rome. This was too become a painter and Rome influenced the beginning pieces of Alberto Burris work. During living in Rome, Alberto spent months in Paris, this is the time where he developed his abstract style, this was later followed by him adding stacking into his pieces which he then developed into using plastic, iron and wood to create his artwork. Alberto’s artwork will often contain many different textures and he use many varied materials. This is what interested me in his work because of the uses of different materials and the different textures that he creates. I believe that this also links nicely into my topic of layers because he creates layers on all of his artwork pieces by layering materials on top of each other. I feel i could incorporate this easily into my layers project because i enjoy using materials in my sketch books and i enjoy the work that Alberto Burri creates.

"Stacking and Red"

This one of Alberto Burri famous pieces, he created it in the early 1950’s and this piece shows the start of Alberto’s stacking pieces. It was painted onto a canvas using acrylic paint and hessian. Alberto was often questioned about this piece, asking if the red colour related to blood lost in the war, also relating to the his job as doctor severing in the military, however he distinguished that his is independent and his work related to nothing  “a freedom attained, constantly consolidated, vigilantly guarded”. I enjoy this particular piece because it looks very textured which i enjoy to look at because i believe that using texture brings another sensory element into the artwork which makes it a lot more interesting. I also enjoy the bold red colour in the back ground, because it makes a statement and i believe that it makes people focus more on the materials used in the piece. I feel that this piece links to the topic of layers because of the “stacked” up material on the canvas which creates layers of texture and material. I have tried incorporated this into my sketch book by using a lot of materials to create a lot of texture such as the brick wall i created on my opening page. 

“Bianco Plastica” 

Another one of Alberto Burri’s famous pieces, it was released in 1966, well into his stacking and textured pieces. This distinct piece was made out of plastic, acrylic and combustion on cellotex. It again adds to Alberto’s stacked pieces using different materials. However in this piece Alberto uses combustion to create this. The main thing that i enjoy about this piece is is the pattern like framework that is created by the cellotex that has been combusted. I feel it gives a interesting look to the piece and i believe it clearly links to the topic of layers because there is a distinctive cellotex layer on the top and underneath is built materials which creates layers. I have again tried to use these techniques my sketch book by creating a lot of texture and layers into my drawings of Herculaneum.

Form and Matter, “father of the burn”

This piece is again Alberto has used a lot of texture but less different types of materials. He has used a thick black background and a bright red sheet of thin plastic which has been burnt. Although this piece may not look like layers, i believe that this whole piece is a layer, each sheet of plastic has been placed on top the black paint then melted to create small holes therefore the plastic has been layered before it has been melted. I also think that it looks worn down overtime, the layers are protecting something precious has been worn away. I like the effect that this piece gives off, it makes you think about it, such as what is represents, is it positive or negative, i feel that this piece makes you think about a lot. I can incorporate this into my work by using materials such as cling film over some parts of my buildings create a layered effect.