Little houses

 

(original sold)

(original sold)

(original sold)

From the series “Virtual model”, oil on thick paper, 29 x 29 cm, 2020.

I like to create imaginary worlds. Using the modeling software I invent virtual simplified realities, probably the result of travel memories and past experiences. I choose the types of buildings, I place them on a fictitious ground, check the colors to the various parts, the lights, the elements of the landscape. And then I choose a point of view and portray this place of fantasy. The traditional landscape painting has to deal with the atmospheric variables, with the mutability of natural light. Here, on the contrary, not only everything is static, but I can change the various elements at will: add or remove pieces, move something, try the effects of shadows depending on the movement of the lights. But it is a small difference, and also the difference between "real" reality and virtual reality is now small: it has become part of our daily lives, changed our way of perceiving, and somehow has itself become real.

Small view of San Francisco

Small view of San Francisco. Oil on wood panel, 34 x 14 cm, 2019 (original sold).

Chromatic

 

(original sold)

(original sold)

Oil on thick paper. 21 x 15 cm, 2020.

The artists are often attached to a particular theme or compositional scheme, till the point that it almost becomes an obsession, their personal and unmistakable signature. On a closer inspection, what counts in these schemes is the possibility, or possibilities, of generating variants. I believe that the artist is precisely attracted to the investigation of these variants, and the exploration of the limit to which one can go in their alteration. And if there are many variables involved in this game, the possibilities of creating variations become almost infinite. I believe that unconsciously, this creative process is also gratifying because it allows us to invent an illusory order, where the chaos of reality can create confusion.

One could almost speak of a "collector's syndrome", except that in this case, the artist, not only, as in a collection of butterflies or stamps, always searches for new specimens and this research is never satisfied, but he even creates "specimens” by himself!

The first two pieces of the series are available for sale at the price of 140 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.

A journey to Italy, Accumoli

From the series “Code”, oil on paper, 35 x 35 cm. Original sold.

The European travelers who made the grand tour in Italy in the nineteenth century, brought back home, in their drawings and memories, a romantic, bucolic, partly false image of the country. They started the journey with a predefined idea and expected to find that, so they were able to see ancient ruins in idyllic landscapes, ignoring the poverty and misery surrounding them. In the same way the map of a city can become a plot of memories or even the falsification of memories. There will be in that map some gaps, or forgotten parts, and parts that we remember as we would like them to have been and not for how they really were. The map can become a personal and intimate diary, where we record our experiences. That map can even become the abstract representation of the ideal life we would have liked to live, a melancholic outline of our regrets and broken dreams.

Inspired by Caravaggio

 

Oil and pencil on paper, 42 x 30 cm, 2017. A study fir a male figure inspired by Caravaggio's paintings.

Natural shadows

 

Three small paintings inspired by nature. Oil on thick paper, 21 x 15 cm, 2012. These original paintings are available for sale at the price of 140 US$ each one. 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.

The blind son

 

An original piece from the series “They sleep on the hill”, oil on canvas, 50 x 60 cm, 2009.

In the “Spoon River Anthology” the poet Edgar Lee Masters tells the story of the people buried in the cemetery of a small imaginary village. In Italy, the singer-songwriter Fabrizio De André published a famous collection of songs inspired by the anthology; the first piece of the collection is titled "They sleep on the Hill." I imagined to evoke in each of these paintings a little story about a person or an imaginary group of people. I try to make the story not too explicit but only vaguely mentioned. It may be a hidden love story, an underhand secret, a family conflict or an unpunished crime. It's not too important to understand the events involving these characters. After all, when you browse through old family albums you discover the faces of people who have become too unknown for the time spent, and we try to imagine how these people have lived. What connection linked them? They were happy? What really occupied their thoughts when the picture was taken?

This original painting is available for sale at the price of 1100 US$ (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.