Silk

From the series “Extrusions”, oil and  fabric on cardboard. 40 x 40 cm, 2017.

This series of works was originally born from the following idea: I imagine a sign on the paper, like a cut, from which other signs, shapes and colors emerge, as if it were a sort of  material capable of generating the painting, a sort of Pandora's pot of painting. By the time this initial idea has become more complicated. That sign on paper came out of paper, it has become three-dimensional, a piece of fabric on the sheet, a sort of pocket from which the paint spills, and eventually other simple objects spill, such as little glass beads, that suddenly become precious just because they are now on the surface of a work of art.

Urban surreal

Volcano in Los Angeles (original sold)

Civic Center in New York, with Matrioska

From the series “Red Star”, oil on canvas, 90 x 70 cm, 2017.

Franz Kafka never moved from his Prague. For the setting of his novel "Amerika",
he probably used the notions  that he took from the newspapers and from his literary
knowledge. Then he filled the gaps left by that information with his imagination, inventing
a really comprehensive and credible setting. Today he wouldn’t have this problem, because
the network provides us with detailed and substantial information on anything. The
universal knowledge is available to all. And everyone, sooner or later run into the same
two problems: this information is too much, we do not need it! (till  the point that often we
remain submerged and we do not know anymore what we were looking for). And then, how
do we verify its authenticity? The virtual reproduction of the real world offered by the internet
is so plausible, to make hard this verification. And often that virtual world is more attractive
than the reality, to the point that this verification is not so important. Is this news true? Is this
picture real? Or is it a montage? No matter, as long as it catches our attention. And this red
star? Wasn’t it on the domes of the Kremlin? What is it doing on a skyscraper in New York?
No matter, it's good enough ...

These original paintings are available for sale at the price of 2750 US$ each one.
Contact me in case you are interested in more information about my work, the sales prices
of individual works, the availability for work on graphics.

Memories of Turin

from the series “Houses on the water”, oil on thick 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.

Portrait

PORTRAIT. An original piece from the series “Sistine mood”, oil on paper, 42 x 29.7 cm, 2016.

This series of drawings was inspired by Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel. Some portraits are directly based on the figures painted on the vault. Then I painted other faces trying to reproduce that style, and the characteristics that in my opinion distinguish it: the intense expression of the faces, the light and half transparent colors as if the aim was to let emerge the underlying drawing, the profile marked by a darker line, the background of a mostly uniform sky.

This original painting is available for sale at the price of 350 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.

Abstract landscapes

"Abstract landscape", 21 x 16 cm, oil and pencil on cardboard, 2008.

"Abstract landscape", 33 x 24 cm, oil and pencil on cardboard, 2009 (ORIGINAL SOLD).

"Abstract landscape", 21 x 12 cm, oil and pencil on cardboard, 2008.

Childhood

Siblings

Boy with dog (original sold)

The player

The fans 

Envy

Ballerina

Childhood memories. Oil on paper, 21 x 15 cm, 2017. These paintings 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.

www.federicocortese.com

Our mother

Our mother - oil on canvas, 2001,  70 x 100 cm.

Where does it comes from this remembrance of a bad mother? Where did it was born this idea of ​​an oppressive authority? What had we made, my sister and I? Had we to be punished? Had we to be judged for a bad action? But my mother wasn’t like this. Why these bad thoughts? The fragile glass bulbs are stored safe on the top of tall cabinets, so that the children can not reach them, and break.