mercoledì 11 marzo 2020

The voyages of Christopher Columbus





(original sold)

Original pieces from the series “Deformations”, oil on thick paper, 56 x 40 cm, 2017 / 2019.

I often paint imaginary maps. I like to play with the codes of representation and the symbols that are usually used in the cartography and in the representation of the territory. In this series of paintings, on the other hand, the starting point is a "historical" map, representing real events in the past, such as maps of explorations, migratory movements, conquests and wars. But in this case, rather than representing an itinerary, I was curious to represent that event from the point of view of the trace left in the memory. That fact, in addition to having occurred at a given time and in a given place, is a bit like a stone thrown into a pond that generates waves and upheavals. From the moment that event happens, a whole series of concatenated consequences appear, in the physical and real world, as well as in the immaterial nebula of the human experience.







These original paintings are available for sale at the price of 530 US$. Contact me in case you are interested in more information about my work, the sales prices of individual works, the costs of the expedition or the availability for work on graphics.

sabato 8 febbraio 2020

Embroideries




(original sold)




“Embroideries”; pencil, ink and oil on paper; 40 x 40 cm, 2004.

The maps of the sky, unlike the traditional maps, have no edges or boundaries. Here there is no demarcation between land and water, there is only the position of dots representing the stars in the vacuum of space, and possibly the lines joining these points, to create similarities with animals, symbols or objects that help us remember and recognize. The plot of these points and these lines creates a fictional embroidery. This is the starting point from which I begin this series of drawings. But here the map quickly becomes tangled and twisted. Symbolic forms and objects appear. At first they seem to be of value in orientation, but soon they reveal to be obstacles, capable of generating a maze, and so you get lost, passing from a geometric order to the chaos of a tangled skein.

mercoledì 29 gennaio 2020

Copenaghen



(original sold)


From the series WINDOWS, oil on paper, 21 x 15 cm, 2017.

The facade of a building is a sort of skin for it. A dress, a kind of embroidery where the alternation of elements (full and empty, windows, materials, structural and decorative elements) gives a different rhythm every time. In my travels I always wonder if it is possible to discover this rhythm and its variations, and if it is specific for that place, or whether modernity has made us all irreparably the same. But probably behind this interest there is also a sort of voyeurism. Who lives in these rooms? Which eyes glance from there? What kind of stories and tragedies hide in those houses?

https://www.federicocortese.com/

martedì 14 gennaio 2020

Withered trees




"Withered trees", oil and pencil on paper. 48 x 32 cm, 2014.

The structure of a tree is simple and curious: some ramifications in the air to catch the light, some branching underground to pick up the food. But branches and roots are similar: both are developed linearly, until at a certain point, following an algorithm written in the genetic code of the plant, they split, bifurcate, or are tripled, growing in space with a progress which will be sensitive to obstacles of soil or climatic conditions of the place. The drawing of the bare branches and of the roots, flattened by the simplicity of a pattern in pencil, creates an embroidery, an imaginary warping which can be generated countless times, always different.

These original paintings are available for sale at the price of 450 US$ each one (shipping included). Contact me in case you are interested in more information about my work, the sales prices of individual works, or the availability for work on graphics.




venerdì 12 luglio 2019

Memory of Venice













MEMORY OF VENICE. From the series “Houses on the water”, oil on paper, 50 x 37 cm, 2016 (original paintings sold).

When, in my holidays, I go to visit a seaside town or a river town, it often happens that I am involved into the classic tourist trip on the boat, or vessel. Such an experience, by definition, is a little superficial: the distance from the coast, the movement, the limited time, all these elements combined together make the perception confused. But at the same time, perhaps for the fact that the focus can not dwell deeply on anything specific, the end of this experience gives a reminder of the whole, that could reveal the spirit of that place. It 's true, the details are confused, the facades of the buildings overlap, we are no longer sure if the front of that palace was on the Grand Canal or the Giudecca, but probably at the end of the journey, that will remain our most intense memory of Venice.




sabato 1 giugno 2019

Little withered trees

"Withered trees", oil and pencil on paper. 21 x 15 cm, 2014.

The structure of a tree is simple and curious: some ramifications in the air to catch the light, some branching underground to pick up the food. But branches and roots are similar: both are developed linearly, until at a certain point, following an algorithm written in the genetic code of the plant, they split, bifurcate, or are tripled, growing in space with a progress which will be sensitive to obstacles of soil or climatic conditions of the place. The drawing of the bare branches and of the roots, flattened by the simplicity of a pattern in pencil, creates an embroidery, an imaginary warping which can be generated countless times, always different.