Almine Rech pays tribute to Turi Simeti

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Turi Simeti (1929-2021).

Born in 1929 in Sicily, Turi Simeti settled in Rome in 1958, where he regularly visited Alberto Burri's workshop. He started painting and made his debut amongst the artists of the Art Informel movement. Simeti moved to Milan in the early 1960s, where he met Fontana, Manzoni, Bonalumi and also Castellani who became one of his closest friend. In this climate of vibrant dialogue, the artist took part in the changes occurring at that time in European art history.

Simeti's first Milanese years led to a considerable number of experiences where the surface of his canvases became a space to be conquered with radical elements, drawn both from minimalism and the notion of the monochrome. Simeti creates in his works different types of tension on several formats, frequently relying on small-scale canvases to produce startling dimensions. Employing the motif of the oval, he has attempted to develop an irregular writing system that liberates the surface of the canvas from the principles of materiality, allowing nothing but silence.

Almine Rech organized several exhibitions with the artist including a retrospective titled 'Le Choix du Signe' curated by Natacha Carron in Brussels in 2015. The same year, Almine Rech Editions published a monograph including archive images.

Photo: Portrait of Turi Simeti, Milan, 2015 / Photo: Piotr Niepsuj - Courtesy of Almine Rech and Archivio Turi Simeti