Grigi che si alleggeriscono verso oltremare 1990

Giovanni Anselmo made this piece, “Grigi che si alleggeriscono verso oltremare” – “Greys lightening towards ultramarine” - from stone and paint. The artist's process feels really direct: a simple gesture to make something from nearly nothing. I mean, it’s rocks and a carefully placed square of color. These rocks, or stones, are raw and jagged, split in halves; they are solid, each one just a little bit different from the others. Look at the textures. They are rough. They have a grain. I like how the artist has left them alone, these stony, grey blocks, and arranged them across the gallery wall in a seemingly simple pattern. Below these blocks is a small square of ultramarine – intense, richly pigmented. It makes me think about the potential of color to activate other materials. It's like he wants us to imagine the weight of the grey stones lifting, or maybe fading into the distance, becoming more like air or light. Thinking about the title and that ultramarine, I see a link to Yves Klein. Both artists shared a concern with ideas around space, and experience. What do you think?