Alighiero Boetti is renowned for his unflagging exploration of new ideas, his obsession with numbers, language, games and classifications, and his diverse body of work ranging from embroideries executed by Afghan craftswomen to experimental works on paper created in his own studio.

Ordine e Disordine, c. 1983, is a superior example of the works Boetti created in his studio exploring various concepts and artistic techniques. In this large-scale work on paper, Boetti has employed stencils, spray-paint and stamps - practices that are devoid of gesture and provide an efficient means to keep up with his rapid thought processes. At the top of the sheet is the iconic letter grid seen in Boetti's embroidered Arazzi works, here stenciled with silver spray-paint, reading vertically from left to right 'Ordine e Disordine' ('Order and Disorder'), while the artist's initials 'AEB' are spray-painted in red outline at the bottom of the sheet. Boetti was fascinated by wordplay and evocative idioms, especially those that expressed dualities and oppositions. In the early 1970s, Boetti added an 'e' between his first name and last names, creating a double identity, reflecting his interest in the dichotomies that exist in all aspects of life, particularly its order and disorder.