Orizzontale policromo 1975

Editor: We’re looking at Giorgio Griffa's "Orizzontale policromo" from 1975, which seems to be mixed-media, textile and watercolour on raw canvas. There's something almost fragile about it, and its muted colors create a soft and serene mood. How do you interpret this piece? Curator: Fragile is the perfect word, like a whisper of color just barely clinging to the fabric. It reminds me of faded frescoes in ancient Italian villas. For me, Griffa’s work always feels like he’s exploring the essential elements of art. It is not just painting on canvas, but about revealing the nature of paint and the qualities of textile itself, almost like a visual haiku. Do you see how the simple repetition of the colored shapes interacts with the raw linen? Editor: I do, now that you mention it. I hadn't really considered the linen *as* part of the artwork. I was so focused on the colored horizontal lines, the rhythm they create across the top… almost like musical notations? Curator: Exactly! And it's deliberate. The ‘errors,’ like the bleeding watercolor, aren't mistakes, they’re part of the process. Griffa was associated with conceptual art, challenging traditional ideas about painting. So what might he be suggesting by leaving the linen untreated, exposed? Editor: Maybe he's inviting us to see the beauty in the unrefined, the unfinished... to appreciate the process as much as the final product? Like wabi-sabi in painting form. Curator: Beautifully put. And I think he's succeeding. Looking at the artwork in that light makes me see it as both complex and remarkably straightforward at the same time. Editor: This piece makes more sense to me. Thanks for showing me how to approach it. I will bring this 'process over product' view to other conceptual art from now on!