Alberto Burri, Bianchi e Neri II (Acetates): Plate B, 1969, Mixed Media

Bianchi e Neri II (Acetates) - Plate B is a print realized using different techniques, and hand-signed in pencil on the lower right margin by Alberto Burri . Hand-numbered in pencil on the lower left. Edition 17/90. The whole edition includes 90 prints plus 15 out of commerce Artist's Proofs in Roman Numerals. Very good condition. The work is part of the "Black and white" folder that Alberto Burri realised in 1969, using an elaborate mix of techniques, such as lithography, chalcography and acetate collage. This six etching portfolio, edited in ninety copies plus fifteen artist's proof, was printed by the roman print shop 2RC, well known location for graphic experimentations between 1960s and 1970s. Valter and Eleonora Rossi, founders of the 2RC Art Editions, intensely believed that graphic had to be considered a proper artistic genre, exactly such as painting and sculpture, and not as a mere extension of them. Thanks to an inventive experimentation, 2RC was able to graphically reproduce processes and contents expressed by contemporary artists. The partnership between Rossi and Alberto Burri is one of the most relevant examples that can be made to explain such an editorial choice. New medias, such as acetate, in fact, allow a new series of artistic choices, and especially in these six "Black and White", they grant the etching the same whites range as paintings. Acetates, although reflecting a similar period to that of artist's painting, are graphically independent from paintings. In occasion of Burri exhibition in 2RC Gallery in Milan, Cesare Brandi underlines and interesting point of view on the graphic works by the Umbrian artist, and of the relationship between graphic technique and painting genre: "with him (Burri) it is possible to consider parallel series, in which the same plastic motif is reproduced in both painting and etching, so that we may think at the etching just as a smaller motif. But the difference is the layout, the space on the sheet that focuses the image. For this reason the margins are no longer the link with the walls, like the frame in a painting, but they become an inseparable part of the image, so we can say that the etching is taking along its invisible wall".