Alberto Biasi is one of the most important Italian artists associated with the Kinetic and Optical Art movement. Born June 25, 1937, in Padua, Italy, Biasi contributed significantly to the development of a new artistic language exploring the interaction between artwork and viewer.
At the end of World War II, Biasi attended high school in Padua before enrolling in the Faculty of Architecture in Venice, where he developed a special focus on visual perception, as well as in the Advanced Course in Industrial Design. Upon completion of his studies, he taught his first classes in drawing and art history in public schools starting in 1958. During the 1950s, Biasi approached abstract art and the Informal: a European art movement that stood in opposition to figurative representation.
In the 1960s, along with other artists, including Ennio Chiggio, Biasi founded the Padua-based Gruppo N, an art movement that aimed to explore dynamic and kinetic art. Specifically, Group N focused on kinetic and optic-kinetic art by exploring visual effects achieved through the use of lines, geometric shapes and movement. The Group’s artists made works that would engage the viewer, creating dynamic and interactive optical effects. In the same year, along with Enrico Castellani, Piero Manzoni, Agostino Bonalumi and other European artists, Biasi exhibited at the Azimut Gallery in Milan.
Also between 1959 and 1960, Biasi made his Trame, i.e. reticular and permeable objects in which modularity has optical-kinetic implications in the relationship between light and the movement of the gaze. The Trame are followed by the Rilievi ottico-dinamici: the layering of lamellar structures with contrasting colors that trigger particular visual effects. At the end of the Gruppo N experience, Biasi continued his investigative work into the relationship and interaction between the viewer and the artwork.
Alberto Biasi’s art focuses on the notion of movement and transformation. Through the use of techniques such as geometric repetition and overlapping elements, he created works that seem to change and vibrate before the viewer’s eyes. His works experiment with light, color, and perspective to create dynamic and engaging visual effects. What distinguishes Biasi’s art is the direct involvement of the viewer. His works are not static but change and transform depending on the viewing angle. The viewer thus becomes an integral part of the work itself, as his or her interaction with the work changes the visual perception and overall experience of the artwork. Biasi’s artistic research has influenced generations of subsequent artists, and his work has been the subject of study and appreciation by critics and scholars around the world. Biasi’s dynamic and interactive approach opened new expressive avenues in visual art, highlighting the importance of the viewer’s active involvement in the artistic experience.
Alberto Biasi’s works have been exhibited in major museums and galleries around the world. He has participated in numerous international exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale and Documenta in Kassel. Throughout his career, he has received numerous awards for his contributions to kinetic and optical art, including the prestigious President of the Italian Republic Award for Visual Arts in 2017. His works are part of prestigious public and museum collections in Italy and abroad, including the MoMA in New York, the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome, and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
M77 had the honor of presenting La Visibilità dell’Invisibile in 2021: an exhibition project curated by Alberto Salvadori and conceived specifically on the basis of the Gallery’s spaces. The exhibition was designed to enhance the gestaltand experiential aspects of Alberto Biasi’s art and the revolutionary role played by the artist, introducing to Italy the concept of a nexus between the artwork and its surrounding environment.
