He explained:

“New York is more beautiful than Venice!! The skyscrapers of glass look like great cascades of water that fall from the sky!! At night it is a huge necklace of rubies, sapphires, and emeralds.” Lucio Fontana cited in: L. M. Barbero (ed.), Lucio Fontana: Venice/New York, Exh. Cat., Guggenheim, New York, 2006, p. 37.

The early Metalli, notably those in the ‘New York’ series, often feature incisions and gestures evocative of architectural forms, while the later examples become larger with more violent holes and slashes in the surface. In this aluminium Concetto Spaziale, dating from 1964–65, four columns of holes are punctured through the surface of the metal, appearing as two pairs of vertical lines, alternating in the size of the holes in each line. These vertical arrangements are precise and suggestive of the motifs of the New York series, but are also related to the later, more purely Spatialist works. This is one of the few Metalli in which Fontana creates such clear columns of holes with alternating sizes, creating a harmonious rhythm across the piece, indicating both the hand of the maker while also alluding to the mechanical processes of great industry and architecture.

The surface of the aluminium is also scratched with an ovoid form, a recurrent motif Fontana’s oeuvre from this time. For the artist, this orbital ovoid shape contained multiple meanings. On the one hand, it reflected his fascination with space travel and the movements of satellites – both natural and manmade – around the earth. Mankind’s breakthrough of venturing beyond the earth’s atmosphere was paralleled by Fontana’s gesture of opening the surface of his artworks; both actions unleashed a previously unknown infinity. On the other hand, this rounded egg-like shape also symbolised birth of a new conception of art and of renewal. This form, albeit created by holes instead of scratching, had also appeared as the key motif of one of his last great series, the culmination of his lifetime’s achievements, Fine di Dio (1963–64).