(by Nicoletta Castagni).
The genius of late Italian
painter and sculptor Alberto Burri (1915-1995) will be
celebrated Wednesday in Brussels on the 100th anniversary of his
birth.
The homage to Burri officially kicked off with the opening
at the European Parliament an exhibition of 10 works from
Burri's Gold and Black series of 1993, made just two years prior
to his death for donation to the Uffizi Galleries in 1994.
The opening was attended by MEPs, the Italian ambassador
and the directors of the Palazzo Albizzini Burri Collection
Foundation.
In the immediate postwar period Burri's incorporation into
his canvases of unusual materials such as plastic cement, resin,
zinc oxide, pumice, tar and PVC brought about a shift in the
pictorial language of European and international painting.
The centennial of his birth March 12, 1915 in the Umbria
town of Città di Castello will be celebrated in various venues
around the world.
In New York City, a Burri retrospective will open at the
Guggenheim Museum in October and will later travel to Germany
and Italy.
The celebrations include the restoration and completion of
the Cretto di Gibellina, a land art project made between 1984
and 1989 in which he covered the ruins of a Sicilian town
destroyed by a 1968 earthquake in concrete, preserving the
layout of the blocks.
At 10 square hectares, Burri's Cretto is said to be the
world's largest piece of contemporary art.
In Milan, authorities will rebuild Burri's massive steel
and cement sculpture Teatro Continuo (Continuous Theater) in its
original placement in the city's Parco Sempione.
Burri first created it in 1973 for exhibition the 15th
Milan triennial, and later donated it to the city, which moved
it to the park.
However the great sculpture Burri had conceived as a
gigantic outdoor theater eventually fell into disuse and
disrepair, and was dismantled in 1989, prompting the master
never to show in Milan again.
These and a list of several other events in tribute to
Burri were drawn up by the Palazzo Albizzini Burri Collection
Foundation and sponsored by Umbria authorities as well as
Italian and international partners under the aegis of the
Italian ministry of culture.
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