BEUYS/BURRI. THE PERSISTENCE OF VALUE

On 4 April 1980, an exhibition conceived by curator Italo Tomassoni was realised in the Sala della Cannoniera of Rocca Paolina in Perugia: the respective work of two great masters of European culture, Joseph Beuys and Alberto Burri, was compared and contrasted. ‘To what idea of time and history is it possible to inscribe the works of Beuys and the works of Burri? In this encounter, two precise symbolic forms preside over the message and aid in an initial approach to the theme: Burri identified himself with Il Grande Ferro R.P.80/Large Iron R.P.80 (now ‘Large Iron’); Beuys with his voice and a single work consisting of six large blackboards.’

At the end of a decade filled with reflection and aesthetic theories, the two artists came face to face, each affirming his independence from the art system. Now, forty years on, Tomassoni revisits the original exhibition and his contribution. The new text is accompanied by a re-edition of the original text from the 1980 catalogue, together with an exhaustive collection of photographs and the previously unpublished transposition of Joseph Beuys’ remarks on the day of the inauguration.