Grazia Varisco — Reticolo Frangibile, incroci N+R (Q251), 1968

Grazia Varisco (b. 1937, Milan) is one of the defining figures of Italian kinetic and programmed art. Since the 1960s her practice has been devoted to the study of perception, of movement and of the relationship between work, space and observer, and as a member of the Gruppo T she helped redefine the artistic language of the second half of the twentieth century, turning the work into a dynamic experience that changes with light and with the position of the viewer.

Reticolo Frangibile – incroci N+R (Q251), executed in 1968, belongs to the Reticoli Frangibili, one of the most iconic cycles of her research and among the most representative expressions of Italian Arte Programmata. The work is born from the superimposition of black and red grids which, through the use of industrial glass, produce a continuous perceptual mutation: the interlacing of the lines generates optical vibrations, apparent depths and visual phenomena that change with the movement of the spectator and with variations in light, making every observation unique.

The word frangibile refers not only to the nature of glass but also to the fragility of visual perception and to the possibility that every geometric certainty may be put into question; the rigour of the composition meets the instability of the gaze, turning an apparently static structure into an organism in constant evolution. The Q251 designation identifies one of the examples of this historic series, made in the years in which Varisco reached full artistic maturity. The Reticoli Frangibili are counted among the most important and sought-after works of her entire production, and her oeuvre is represented in the permanent collections of the Museo del Novecento, MAXXI, the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea and the Museum of Modern Art.