Achille Perilli Italian, 1927-2021

Achille Perilli  (Rome, Italy, 1927 – Orvieto, Italy, 2021) 

Born in Rome in January 1927, Achille Perilli attended the Liceo Classico and enrolled at the Faculty of Fine Arts in 1945. In 1947, he founded the Forma 1 Group with other artists, including Accardi, Guerrini, Dorazio and Turcato, who signed its manifesto. Still with the aim of defending abstract art, they published Forma 2 some years thereafter. 

Distancing themselves from the classic themes of “Italian Novecento”, the group sought to lay the theoretical foundations for a revival of abstract art, in line with the other European avant-gardes.  

In 1949, he became a member of the MAC (Movement for Concrete Art). 

In 1958, together with Novelli, he founded the magazine “L'esperienza moderna” (“The Modern Experience”) and later on, in 1964, the magazine “Grammatica” (“Grammar”).  

In 1968, he took part in the Venice Biennale, and in the same years, he also worked for the theatre. 

From 1970, the artist began to search for an imaginary space different from the typical perspective and measurable space. Since 1973, he has been part of the Altro group, where he worked on language and its evolution. In 1982, he published the manifesto “Teoria dell’irrazionale geometrico” (“Theory of the Geometric Irrational”). 

In addition to numerous solo and retrospective exhibitions dedicated to him, he has been a member of the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca since 1995.  

In the works of the last few years, a bright, cheerful and lively chromaticism has been added. 

The artist died in 2021 in Orvieto.  

Copyright the artist. Photo UniCredit Group