Alberto Biasi

Captiolium Art Casa D'Aste Brescia, 16 July 2014, lot 93

Acquired from the above sale by the present owner

• A captivating example of the artist’s investigation into dynamic visual perception and kinetic art.
• A composition with strong optical contrast between black, yellow, and blue to create illusory depth.
• Executed in 1975, reflecting the mature phase of Biasi’s experimentation with tactile and light-based effects.

The present work, Interno-Esterno, is a striking planar construction that exemplifies Alberto Biasi's commitment to Programmed and Kinetic Art. The composition utilizes a predominantly black background surface, upon which elements of yellow and blue are applied. The core visual effect is generated by manipulating layered materials, characteristic of his mixed media technique on wood, to create an unstable and illusory sense of depth and movement. By employing a stark, high-contrast palette, Biasi forces the viewer's eye to oscillate between the colors, causing the plane to appear to recede and project simultaneously, challenging the static nature of the traditional painting surface.

This work is a quintessential example of Biasi's investigations developed with Gruppo N in Padua, which sought to dematerialize the art object and engage the viewer through sensory manipulation. The use of a restricted, non-gradational palette (black, yellow, and blue) applied in distinct geometric bands is key to generating the required optical vibration, a hallmark of his Dinamica Visuale (Visual Dynamics) series. Unlike traditional painting, where the image is fixed, Biasi’s structured reliefs and light-based effects require the physical movement of the spectator to fully activate the shifting relationships between the 'internal' and 'external' surfaces, thereby defining the very essence of Kinetic Art in the 1970s.

Alberto Biasi’s pivotal role in postwar European abstraction ensures his continuous institutional presence, and his works are held in the permanent collections of major museums worldwide. Significant exhibitions of his work have included Alberto Biasi, la dinamica della percezione at the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome (2018), and his central inclusion in Kinetic Art: The Dynamic Movement in Art 1920–1970 at the Tate Modern in London (2016). His position as a co-founder of Gruppo N and his focus on visual programming secure his importance within the history of optical and geometric abstraction.