Getulio Alviani

(Italian, born 1939)

Studio per superficie a testura vibratile
1970/1978

Footnotes

This work is accompanied by a photo-certificate of authenticity signed by the artist.

Provenance
Galleria Plurima, Udine
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner circa 1985


Getulio Alviani is now rightly considered to be one of the most important practitioners of optic and kinetic art. Born in the province of Udine, Northern Italy, in 1939 and following a stint studying art in Venice, Alviani was employed in various positions as art director, graphic artist and designer, and in 1960, after viewing aluminium sheets at his workplace, he became fascinated with the reflective and refractive qualities inherent in polished metal. From these early experiments his most celebrated series Superfici a testura vibratile (vibrating texture surfaces), of which the present work is part, was born, drawing on the shifting interplay of light, movement and reflection on defined geometric surfaces. The resulting artworks both engaged and disorientated the viewer calling into question notions about perception and relativity.

The present work composed of two panels bisected from a square aluminium sheet and mounted back to back so that the brushed concentric circles on the surface appear to mirror each other in reverse. The shifting geometric patterns of light radiating outwards from the original circle's centre forming infinity points that suggest the illusion of depth yet enhance the surface of the material.

Alviani's work had clear parallels with his contemporaries who were blazing a trail through their optical art forms, and he collaborated with the dynamic Groupe de Recherche d'Art Visuelle who were active in Paris from 1960, and whose members included Julio Le Parc, François Morellet and Victor Vasarely. His relationship with pioneering artists continued when he met and formed friendships with Piero Manzoni and Lucio Fontana in 1962, and the latter is known to have acquired his work for his personal collection. His reputation was further enhanced when he exhibited at the 1964 Venice Biennale, sharing a room with Enrico Castellani. Alviani's career flourished with inclusion in the ground breaking The Responsive Eye exhibition at MoMA in New York in 1965 and Documenta 4 in Kassel in 1968. Five years later he was invited by Jesús Rafael Soto to direct the newly opened Museum of Modern Art Fondacio Soto in Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela firmly establishing him as a leading international figure. Getulio Alviani works are housed in major international institutions including MoMa, New York, Kuntsmuseum Basel, and Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo where they continue to compel and fascinate viewers today with their mercurial and sensual luminosity.