The White Slash: Lucio Fontana and the Sublime

With its hypnotically white surface sliced with four dramatic vertical incisions, Lucio Fontana’s Concetto spaziale, Attese, is a spectacular example of the artist’s signature tagli (cuts). Moving beyond the two-dimensionality of the picture plane, Fontana’s slashes took his canvases into the third dimension, defying the traditional division between painting and sculpture. In the present work, the gently curving cuts alternate between longer and shorter lengths, a quasi-calligraphic arrangement with a beguiling sense of rhythmic movement. Video produced and directed by Carolyn H. Miner. Videography by Valentin Meneveau. If you would like to use this video, please contact [email protected]