Agostino Ferrari - Footprint Sign

The work draws on an Informal aesthetic language. The devastation wrought by the Second World War left a profound mark on Western civilization, which in the visual arts also resulted in an inability to communicate. For some artists, this challenge resulted in a total rejection of any visual language, which resulted in the birth of Informal Art. The various Informal movements are certainly connected to American Abstract Expressionism, especially with regard to the gestural component, but they go further in their rejection of any figurative element, even geometric. Their research focuses instead on the material with which they compose their works. Agostino Ferrari is one of the most important exponents of Italian Informal Art. In his work, Informal aesthetics takes on a decidedly symbolic meaning.

This work is truly significant for the research undertaken by artist Agostino Ferrari. The sign has been the absolute protagonist of his pictorial style since the founding of the Gruppo del Cenobio in 1962. Ferrari seeks to restore the artwork to a primordial state, a dimension in which the image has not yet acquired meaning (with a clear connection to the incommunicability typical of Informal aesthetics). For this reason, his works are essentially composed of meaningless writings: the artist traces signs on the medium that are in a shapeless (informal) state because they have not yet become symbols, true writing. The hermetic and minimal allure of Agostino Ferrari's works is undeniable, also because they are executed by the artist with great aesthetic impact. This work, specifically, proposes, along with the study of the sign, an exploration of matter. In this case, the meaningless writing is created as if it were a footprint in the sand that forms the work's support (hence the title Segno-impronta). The modulation of the material's colors is extraordinary, as is the personality of the gesture that traces the mark in the sand.

Agostino Ferrari was born in Milan in 1938. He began his career as a painter in 1959, working in Remo Brindisi's studio; his first solo exhibition was held at the Galleria Pater in Milan in 1961. In 1962, he met A. Verga, E. Sordini, U. La Pietra, A. Lucia, and A. Vermi, with whom he founded the Gruppo del Cenobio, which, despite its short lifespan, was crucial for Ferrari, as it marked the beginning of his exploration of sign, a common thread throughout his work.

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