Alighiero Boetti (1940 Turin, Italy – 1994 Rome, Italy) was one of the most significant Italian artists of the post-war period and a central figure in the evolution of conceptual practices within and beyond the Arte Povera movement. Although associated with Arte Povera in the 1960s, his work soon developed into a highly personal, conceptual language rooted in systems, duality, and collaboration.
Boetti’s early works were object-based and closely aligned with the spirit of Arte Povera. However, duality quickly became a key theme in his practice, leading him in 1968 to insert an “e” (“and” in Italian) between his first and last name, transforming himself into Alighiero e Boetti — a symbolic doubling that underpinned much of his artistic thinking.
In 1971 Boetti travelled to Afghanistan for the first time, a journey that profoundly influenced his artistic trajectory. Captivated by the extraordinary craftsmanship of Afghan weavers, he began commissioning large embroidered works—including the celebrated Mappe, Arazzi, and Kilims. The designs were prepared in Italy with the help of his assistants and then produced by Afghan artisans. After the Soviet invasion of 1979, production moved to Pakistan, yet the collaboration remained deeply rooted in Afghan culture and continued to reflect Boetti’s fascination with the encounter between East and West, order and disorder, chance and intention.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Boetti developed a new visual language based on classifications—numbers, alphabets, indexes, and geographical maps—experimenting with an extraordinary range of materials and techniques often connected to traditional crafts. Alongside the embroideries, he produced the well-known Biro works, made from hundreds of thousands of pen marks executed by friends and collaborators. These works create intensely vibrating monochrome surfaces, often structured by linguistic systems such as alphabetic indexes and coded arrangements of commas, revealing Boetti’s enduring interest in language, communication, and shared authorship.
Over the course of his career, Boetti participated in major international exhibitions, including two Documentas and five editions of the Venice Biennale. His works are held in numerous important public and private collections worldwide, and he has been exhibited extensively in Europe and the United States. In 2013, a major exhibition at the MAXXI in Rome led the city to dedicate the museum’s piazza to the artist.
Significant retrospective exhibitions have been organised by the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, Tate Modern in London, and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.
For information on available works by the artist, please contact the gallery.