CRETTO DI BURRI

On the ruins of the earthquake between 1985 and 1989, Alberto Burri spread enormous cast of cement, transforming the ruins into a work of art. The cement blocks which are crossed by regular fissures which basically reproduce the street layout of old  Gibellina  like the cracks in dry land. The work of art is a memorial to the earthquake of the 15 January 1968 which destroyed Gibellina. In its minimalism, the cretto pays tribute to the old city and reactivates memory and remembrance. Alberto Burri (1915-1995) was captured in Tunisia by the English during the second world war. While he was imprisoned he began to paint. On his return to Italy in 1946, he decided  to abandon his medical career to dedicate himself to art. In  1951 he was one of the founders of the group "Origine" with Ballocco, Capogrossi, Colla. The Cretti occupy an important part of the work of the artist.