Bianchi e Neri II (Acetates) - Plate E

Bianchi e Neri II (Acetates) - Plate E  is a wonderful Contemporary artwork  hand-signed  in pencil on the lower right margin by Alberto Burri. Hand-numbered in pencil on lower-left.

Edition of 90 prints plus 15 artist proofs out of commerce.   

This wonderful plate is embossing on zinc plate and lithograph, printed in one color. After this process, Burri did a collage of acetate on Fabriano Rosaspina paper. With the embossing stamp of the publisher Stamperia 2RC (Rome) on the lower-left corner.

 In excellent conditions except for some minor stains on the right margin, beyond the marginal line of the matrix. Thus this imperceptible defect does not affect the image.  

Black and white II

This artwork is a sheet of the  "Black and white II ", a series that  Alberto Burri  realized in 1970, 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 for the graphic experimentations between 1960s and 1970s.

2RC Art Editions

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 the 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 media, 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

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".