Groundbreaking Italian artist Carla Accardi contributed to the creation of a new philosophy and style of abstraction starting in the immediate wake of World War II. Regarded for her colourful paintings made between the 1940s and 1970s, Accardi’s work is informed by linguistic concerns, as well as the influences of Marxism and feminism. Starting in the 1960s, Accardi accentuated the interplay of multiple spatial planes through her use of bolder pigmentation and Sicofoil, a clear plastic sheeting used in commercial packaging, as a painting surface. In paintings like Senza titolo (1967), the transparent material imbues the composition of fluorescent green marks with an environmental nature, while also emphasising the physical supports of the painting through the exposure of wooden stretchers. In paintings such as Assedio rosso n. 3 (1956) and Verdi azzurro (1962), opaque, fluorescent symbols, loops, and tendrils can be perceived as letters, words, and phrases, even if ones potentially not meant to be read. Language is freed from the page as well as from its received meanings, forms, and, in many instances, the obligations of communication. Accardi’s paintings create an experience in which inside and outside, looking and reading, seeing and perceiving are blurred.
Madeline Weisburg
