“ When the basic idea, the concept, emerges, nothing else requires a choice.”
Alighiero e Boetti, closely linked to the Arte Povera movement, was a central figure in the Italian avant-garde of the mid-1960s. Having declared himself a painter from an early age, Boetti would eventually renounce painting in favour of other techniques and materials (collage, spray painting or stencil painting, decal, or calligraphy). Boetti's works have thus participated in a renewal of artistic language, favoring the process of creation over the finished object and the conceptual meaning of the work of art over its narrative or aesthetic dimensions. Wondering about the status of the artist, he adds an "e" ("and" in English) between his first and last name in an effort to split his personality in two. The question of doubling, and of duality in general, then leads him to question the very principles of artistic identity and individuality.