Carla Accardi was a major figure in abstract painting, especially known for her calligraphic abstractions. A founding member of the Italian art groups Forma and Continuia, in the 1950s, Accardi was involved in the wide-reaching attempts to revolutionize abstraction through the hybridization of geometric form and gestural painting. In 1961, Accardi began painting on sicofoil, a transparent plastic, instead of canvas. This conceptual breakthrough was celebrated in the Ambiente/Arte exhibition at the 1976 Venice Biennale, and would prove influential for the artists of the postwar Italian movement, Arte Povera.