Naturally fleeting, with no form, weight or density, fire has always fas- cinated artists, both for its potential effects on other materials and as an active presence in works of art.

The exhibition aims to show not only the consequences of fire but also how it physically features in the work of major international artists, such as Alberto Burri, Yves Klein, Arman, Pier Paolo Calzolari, Jannis Kounellis and Claudio Parmiggiani. From Alberto Burri’s combustions of various materials to Jannis Kounellis’s use of gas cylinders, artists have appropriated the dichotomy of fire: both destroyer and generator, ash and light. For this large exhibition, numerous international loans from leading public and private collections in Europe and North America have been brought to the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, including many previously unseen or rarely exhibited works.

The exhibition project is accompanied by a book published by Forma Edizioni under the scholarly direction of Bruno Corà.