Sacking and Red 1954

Alberto Burri made this artwork, Sacking and Red, with burlap sacking and paint. Right away you can see the materiality of it, right? The roughness and texture, not smooth like some paintings. There’s a big, roughly torn hunk of burlap dominating the surface, set against a field of bright red. Up close, the burlap’s a mess of holes and fraying edges, which Burri seems to have reveled in. The muted browns and grays of the sacking contrast with the boldness of the red which is so present. A vertical strip of sacking intersects the horizontal piece, like a rudimentary cross. You can see Burri's process right there on the canvas, embracing chance and imperfection. Burri was a contemporary of Rauschenberg, so you can consider him in the context of assemblage. You can think about art as this ongoing conversation, one artist responding to another across time. It is not one single message, but more like an invitation to look and think.