The sleek and elegant marble atrium of Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò [2], home of Italian Studies at New York University, accentuates Alberto Burri’s [3]beautifully designed posters, displayed as part of the exhibition “Burri – Posters”. 

From the The Palazzo Albizzini “Collezione Burri” Foundation to NYU's Casa Italiana 

Organized in collaboration with the Fondazione Palazzo Albizzini Collezione Burri of Città di Castello [4], the exhibition opened on Thursday October 26.

“The two institutions share a rich history of collaboration” said Chiara Sarteanesi [5], current curator of the Foundation. “Founder of the Casa Italiana, Baroness Mariuccia Zerilli-Marimò, often visited the artist foundation Palazzo Albizzini and enjoyed Burri’s works. Casa Italiana’s art advisor, Isabella Del Frate Rayburn [6], has also been a long time supporter of Burri, and she was one of the first people to organize an exhibition of Burri in NYC back in 1988 when he was undistinguished.” she added.

Alberto Burri Comes Back to New York with a Poster exhibition 

The show comprises a selection of exhibition posters intended for publicity purposes of the Italian self-taught artist Alberto Burri. This opens a new significant chapter in his legacy, since it is the first time that such importance was given to this production.

“Burri was actively involved in the design process of these posters, from the layout to the font choice, without leaving anything to chance. In fact, they all tell a story since each one of them corresponds to a particular exhibition.” said Chiara Sarteanesi. “For example,” she continued, pointing at the poster of the exhibition held at the former Peroni factory in Rome, “this poster publicizes his exhibition but also shows you how–by choosing this former industrial space just after the brewery had been dismantled–the artist initiated the recovery of former industrial areas.”

“All the posters share the design approach of giving a central place to the work itself, which Burri preferred to reproduce in its entirety rather than depicting an isolated detail. To this end, the accompanying texts, including his own name, had to find space in an outlying part of the visual field.” wrote Bruno Corá in the introductory essay of the exhibition catalogue.

Among the poster collection exhibited at Casa Italiana, there is also a series of six posters made for the World Cup Football Championship held in Italy in 1990 [7], the only series that Burri did without using images of his own work. In this series, Burri drew the outlines of a football field and the flags of all the participing countries within an aerial photograph of the Coliseum. 

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BURRI - POSTERS. On view through Dec 8. Mon-Fri 10-5
at Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò (NYU)
24 West 12th Street
New York, NY 10011