Senza titolo, 1963

Emerging from the upper border of a masonite panel is a piece of blank paper that was previously stretched across the panel and then torn to expose the support surface. On the verso, the lower stretcher bar features the extremity of the torn piece of paper. The colour reproduction on the verso illustrates a view of the ruins of Pompeii.
This work is part of a group of works (from GPO-0028 to GPO-0049) whose common denominator is the presence of an intervention on both the recto and the verso of the painting. Surfaces of various types take turns appearing on the recto (painted paper, graph paper, photographic reproductions, shaped wooden panels), while on the verso (hidden from view) we find the details of images and printed words taken from magazines or from books (whether or not a textual element is present defines the title of the work or, contrarily, the lack of a title, such as in this case). The subtraction of the painting from its function as a vehicle for an image is a continuation of the study experimented with in some previous works that focus on a subject that, albeit mentioned, remains an unexpressed presence.