Call for Papers: Abstraction, Analysis and Synthesis of an Operating Principle. Around and Beyond the Season of Analytical Painting

Edited by Elena Di Raddo, Kevin McManus and Francesco Tedeschi

 

In accordance with the activities promoted by the Research Centre on Abstract Arts in Italy (CRA.IT), the new issue of "piano b" is aimed at collecting reflections, insights, and contributions regarding the evolution of the definition of abstract art. The premises established in the 1970s, especially by artists and critics concerned with “pittura analitica” (analytical painting), are meant to be the starting point, as they are considered – from a historical-critical perspective – the origin and essential juncture for studies on this subject.

The forms and practices of non-figurative art, as defined in the historical context of the first half of the 20th century, become even more evident in the events of the post-World War II period. The paradigms and critical readings that marked the evolution of abstract tendencies between the 1950s and 1960s would eventually find a salient phase in the season of analytical reflection defined during the 1960s-1970s period. The proposal for an issue of the journal “piano b” dedicated to this theme is based on the theoretical-critical and operational framework produced by Italian, European and international experiences belonging to the sphere of ‘pittura analitica’ (analytical painting) or ‘pittura-pittura’ (painting-painting). The aim is to focus on essential aspects and specific examples inherent to the continuity and renewal of art practices addressing matters of form, surface and specific techniques, generating new hypotheses for the organization of the act of painting or form construction in the art of the late 20th century.

In addition to examining aspects of 1970s art in the context of groups such as “Support-Surface”, the continuity of “Systemic Painting”, and other related situations, the positions by artists such as Peter Halley, Sean Scully – but also by the continuators of the experience of analytical painting, monochrome, formalist research – are the subject of interest aimed at grasping relations between their historical dimension and their subsequent impact on the present day.

Among these intertwining experiences, a twofold possibility emerges, definable according to the classic opposition between ‘analysis’ and ‘synthesis’. On the one hand, there is an analytical approach concerning the language of painting and the pictorial form as a specific experience. This involves an investigation of the constitutive elements of painting (support, surface, color, and frame), as well as their respective relationship, and that between the painting and material space. On the other hand, a ‘synthetic’ approach, more typical of post-modern practices in the 1980s and 1990s, is connected with the revival of models, stylistic features and clichés of historical abstraction, which are reframed in an ironic, critical or sometimes nostalgic manner. A more complex position, somehow intermediate, is constituted by the second generation of ‘analytical painters’: by operating a synthesis of previous investigations, their work often resulted in a ‘decorative’ form of installation that can be understood as an addressing of the exhibition space, moving away from the internal tension of the painting, identified as an essential character of the modernist paradigm according to the abstraction model elaborated in the 1950s and 1960s by Clement Greenberg. (This research also prompted an investigation into forms of abstraction that extend beyond the scope and techniques of traditional painting, particularly in connection with the new possibilities offered by digital technologies).

The issue of ‘piano b’ will be developed around the following thematic topics:

● Case studies of artists who have reflected on abstraction from the 1970s to today.

● Exhibitions devoted to abstraction in recent decades, which stand out for their problematic approach and connections to more recent practices.

● Abstraction in the criticism of recent decades: readings, syntheses, proposals for categorisation.

● The relationship between abstraction in painting and its legacy in new media.

● The cultural positioning of abstraction today, exploring its connection with art forms more linked to current events and political issues.

● The impact of Postmodern theories (including more specific approaches, such as postcolonialism, gender studies, etc.) and the evolutions on abstract art.

● Practices of appropriation, collage, re-use, and fragmentation that echo the abstract art of the past.

● Abstract art and space: display, installation, and exhibition methods.

Main bibliographical references

Paparoni D. (1994), L’astrazione ridefinita, Tema Celeste, Siracusa.

Ryan D. (2002), Talking Painting: Dialogues With Twelve Contemporary Abstract Painters, Routledge, London/New York.

Feierabend V., Meneguzzo M. (2008, edited by), Pittura analitica, Silvana, Cinisello Balsamo.

Nickas B. (2009), Painting abstraction: New Elements in Abstract Painting, Phaidon, London.

Belloni F., Gransinigh V. (2015, edited by), Un’idea di pittura. Astrazione analitica in Italia, 1972-1976, Civici Musei, Udine.

Rigoni A. (2017, edited by), Pittura analitica: origini e continuità, FerrarinArte, Legnago / Silvana Editoriale, Cinisello Balsamo.

Submissions guidelines

From this issue onward, proposal selection will no longer be based on the evaluation of abstract, rather on the complete contribution (30.000/40.000 characters, including notes and spaces). Additionally, the submission process for proposal has changed.

Authors must submit their articles via the journal’s platform using a 5-step proposal submission process.

The file containing the proposal text must not display author's name appearing below the title, in the notes, or in the bibliographic references (where it will be replaced with ***). The name of the author should not be made explicit in any way. References that would allow the author himself or herself to be traced should also be excluded, otherwise the proposal will not be considered. Moreover, file properties must be devoid of names or other personal details, using the anonymization functions provided by various word processing programs (see instructions on how to Ensure Double-Blind Review for more information).

The anonymized contribution file must be uploaded during step 2 of the submission process. The text must conform to the formatting guidelines.

Metadata entry will occur during step 3 of the process and must include the following information:

1. For each author: first name and last name, email, ORCiD identifier (if available), institutional affiliation, country, and a brief biography (maximum 1000 characters, including spaces);

2. Title;

3. Abstract (maximum 1500 characters, including spaces);

4. Five keywords separated by semicolons;

Contributions can be written in Italian, English, and French. When submitting a contribution in Italian or French, the title and abstract must also be provided in English using the "Language of Forms" function on the platform. Proposals submitted through other methods will not be considered.

Timeline

Proposals must be submitted by January 17, 2025. Each contribution will undergo a double-blind peer review process. If the judgments of the two referees are not aligned, the editors will decide (in dialogue with the curators) whether to proceed with the publication or to send it to a third referee. The editorial staff will reach out the authors to convey the outcome of the evaluation.

Vol. 9 No. 2 is scheduled for release for the first half of 2025.