Mold (Muffa)

Alberto Burri began his career as an artist after returning to Italy in 1946 from Texas, where he had been held in a prisoner-of-war camp. Attracted to unconventional, humble materials—such as tar, sand, and enamel— and processes like collage, Burri made work that is related to the European Informel movement and the Art Brut of Jean Dubuffet and is seen as a precursor to Arte Povera. Using a restricted palette of red and black, Burri established a simplicity and directness in his abstract work. Mold, a mixed-media painting, is from a series in which he explored the use of pumice stone. Here the visceral impact of this gritty, highly porous substance exemplifies Burri’s pursuit of material reality without recourse to realism.