Fuori tiro

In a vertical format – an unusual choice for the painter at the time, who was inclined instead to align his forms as though they were assembled along an imaginary horizontal thread – several imperfectly geometrical figures (circles, triangles, trapezoids, ovoids) rise up like a totem of ancient civilizations. Their interrogative profiles and vivid chromatic tones stand out against a backdrop of modulated shades of grey. From 1970 onwards, until his death in 1975 (this Fuori tiro is certainly one of his last works), Afro took his art in a strong and completely unpredictable direction, far from the masterly transparencies and slow, atmospheric effusions that were second nature to him. The figures were now silhouetted against the surface of the canvas, free from the feverish marks and slow chiaroscuro that had accompanied them in later years. Little by little they renounced shadow, so that the forms were juxtaposed in sharp, intense colours, almost as though they were weaving a playful dance against a neutral backdrop, unperturbed, more often than not filled with blocks of uniform colour. To these unexpected outcomes Afro was propelled in part by his parallel experimentation in graphic art, which he developed more and more intensively as time went by, and in part by heeding the suggestions that may have come from the work of Alberto Burri, his long-time friend and fellow artist; not forgetting, of course, the influence that Pasmore’s neo-constructivist quest would have on him.