Dall’oggi al domani

Dall’oggi al domani (1988) is a characteristic example of Alighiero Boetti’s exploration of language, repetition, authorship, and the relationship between order and chance. Executed in embroidery on canvas, the work belongs to the artist’s celebrated body of embroidered compositions, in which words and letters become both visual forms and carriers of meaning.

The title, Dall’oggi al domani, translates as “From Today to Tomorrow”, introducing a temporal dimension that is central to Boetti’s poetic approach. Rather than treating language simply as a means of communication, Boetti transforms it into a visual system, where the arrangement of letters, colours, and spaces becomes an integral part of the composition.

Language as Image

Throughout his career, Boetti repeatedly explored the boundaries between writing and visual art. His embroidered works transform text into a structured pictorial language, encouraging the viewer to move between reading and looking.

The apparently simple format conceals a more complex relationship between time, repetition, order, and transformation. The process of embroidery itself is particularly significant: Boetti conceived the compositions while the physical execution was traditionally entrusted to embroiderers, creating a deliberate separation between the artist’s conception and the final handmade object.

The Concept of Time

The expression Dall’oggi al domani evokes the passage from one moment to another — from the present towards an uncertain future. This temporal idea resonates with Boetti’s broader interest in systems and transformation, in which apparently fixed structures can generate different possibilities through repetition and variation.

The intimate scale of the work reinforces its contemplative quality. Letters become forms, words become patterns, and language becomes a space in which meaning is continuously constructed by the viewer.

Provenance & Documentation

The work is accompanied by a certificate from the Archivio Alighiero Boetti, confirming its place within the artist’s documented oeuvre.

Provenance: Private Collection Certificate: Archivio Alighiero Boetti Reference: AB-GRO-01