Mixed media on canvas, circa 1964. 325x238 mm; 12 7/8x9 3/8 inches. Signed in ink, lower right recto, and inscribed "116" in ink, verso.
This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist's work in preparation.
Piza (1928-2017) was born in São Paulo, Brazil, where he began his artistic training. He relocated to Paris in 1951, where he lived and worked for most of his career. During his initial years in Paris, Piza trained under the master printmaker Johnny Friedlaender, adapting his style to the capabilities and demands of intaglio processes. Following this instruction Piza began using thicker plates than was typical for etchings in order to make deeper, gouged incisions, resulting in a three-dimensional textural quality in his printed works (see lot 104). He was awarded the National Engraving Prize early in his career, in 1959, for his innovations.
In addition to his printed oeuvre, Piza experimented widely with varied media, pushing the boundary between works on paper, painting and sculpture. His collage works from the 1960s, like the current work, incorporated anything from traditional material such as colored paper to more radical substances like sand. He worked on all forms of supports, from the canvas in the present example to wood and cardboard. At a point Piza expanded to a sculpture practice, moving beyond two-dimensional work to incorporate issues of space and perception in his work. He threaded a consistent visual vocabulary through his prints, collages and sculpture which derived from his interest in netting and spatial relationships.
Piza initially exhibited his work in the inaugural São Paulo Bienal in 1951 and over the years showed at other such esteemed venues as the Venice Bienale, Bienal de la Habana and Documenta. Piza's work is in the collections of many institutions including The Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York as well as the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. He passed away in 2017 after a lifetime of rich artistic production.
