Piero Manzoni (1933-1963)

'Abstractions and references must be totally avoided. In our freedom of invention we must succeed in constructing a world that can be measured only in its own terms. 'We absolutely cannot consider the picture as a space on to which to project our mental scenography. It is the area of freedom in which we search for the discovery of our first images. 'Images which are as absolute as possible, which cannot be valued for what they record, explain and express, but only for that which they are: to be' ('For the Discovery of a Zone of Images', undated but presumably 1957, reproduced in Piero Manzoni: Paintings, reliefs & objects, exh.cat., London, 1974, pp.16-17).

With its incredibly powerful physical presence and zen-like interjection of pleats which run across the centre of the composition pulsating out of the canvas, rich with kaolin, achrome is a particularly beautiful example of this series, which is of course legendary in the history of twentieth century art. The notion of the tabula rasa is central to Manzoni's Achrome, which was executed in 1960. The lack of drawing, of artistic contribution, removes any sense of narrowing autobiography. Manzoni has removed all the vestiges of representation in order to create something: 'The difficulty lies in freeing oneself from extraneous details and useless gestures; details and gestures that are polluting the customary art of our day' (Manzoni, Art is not a true creation, in Celant, 1998, p. 76).