Lia Rumma Opening Party
Architects CLS Milan: See the draft of the new Gallery
ETTORE SPALLETTI
Opening Saturday, May 15, 2010, at 12 Gallery Lia
Rumma , Stilicho 19th Street, Milan
gallery hours: Tuesday - Saturday at 11:00 to 13:30 / 14:30 to 19:00
from May 15 to September 18, 2010
Lia Rumma the new space opens in Milan in Via Stilicho 19 with an exhibition Ettore Spalletti (Cappelle sul Tavo, 1940), an artist who, since the mid-seventies, has created a language suspended between painting and sculpture , a focus on the light and space, recalling both the modern abstraction, since the geometry of Renaissance painting. Its chromatic backgrounds cover the most basic forms, which, in the apparent containment within its geometric contours, evocative become thanks to the quality of the painting that information. The shapes are drawn, then reported on wood, paper or stone, and finally painted. The design then is not that the media work, which arises only when the color takes shape. The thickness of color is achieved through the writing of successive layers of a mixture of plaster and pigments, in a slow process, taking into account the different drying times. The color is only revealed in the final moment of this long process, when the abrasion causes the breakdown of pigments, making the dusty surfaces, such as the skin velvety texture, with infinite shades and tonal variations. Little by little, the design is drowning in the nascent body of color and leads to the statute which provides for Spalletti it, that the outline. There is painting in the traditional sense, but between color identification and support, there is no sculpture in the sense of the model, because the sand paper remove any echo of emotionality. The colors that characterize the work of Spalletti are tenuous, ever crossed the white chalk that prevents them from locking in a definitive order, returning to the area a breath that refers to life and its figuration.
"Having the colors one after another to describe a picture, opening our eyes to unknown places ... blue is a colorful atmosphere, the blue used in my works are always different, even at nearly imperceptible distinguish them. Use the blue because it's a color that never occurs across the surface of his existence but it is a color in which we find ourselves constantly. And so on ... use pink because pink is the color of the flesh, then he can always turn to the second of our emotions. Half asleep in the sea there is the silver gray. Grey is welcome, is a color that moves toward the white but also black, which offers the highest quality of all colors. "
solo exhibitions have been devoted to Spalletti from prestigious institutions such as the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples, the Musée de Strasbourg, the SMAK in Ghent and Antwerp MUHKA, South London Gallery in London, the Musée d'Art Modern de la Ville de Paris, the Kunstverein in Monaco, the Museum Folkwang in Essen, the Henry Moore Foundation in Leeds, Villa Medici in Rome and the Museum Kurhaus Kleve. Several participations in international exhibitions, including Documenta IX in Kassel and VII and the XL, XLIV, XLVI, XLVII Venice Biennale.
Ettore Spalletti
Opening Saturday 15 May 2010, 12 pm
Galleria Lia Rumma , Via Stilicho 19, Milan
Gallery opening times: Tuesday - Saturday, 11 am -1.30 pm / 14:30 pm-7 pm
from 15 May to 18 September 2010
Lia Rumma is pleased to announce the opening of a new gallery in Milan in Via Stilicone 19 with an exhibition of the work of Ettore Spalletti (Cappelle sul Tavo,1940). Since the mid-70s, the artist has created a language that is suspended between painting and sculpture, focusing on light and space, an approach which is reminiscent of both modern abstract art and the geometry of Renaissance painting. His chromatic backgrounds cover essential forms which, through the apparent containment within their geometric outlines, become evocative due to the quality of the painting with which they are imbued.
The forms are drawn, then transferred to wood, paper or stone, and finally painted. The drawing is therefore simply the support for the work, which only comes into being when the paint materialises. The thickness of the paint is obtained by applying successive layers of mixtures of plaster and pigments, a slow process which takes account of the varying times required for the paint to dry. The colour is only revealed in the final moment of this long process when abrasion causes the decomposition of the pigments, making the surfaces powdery, like velvety skin, with an infinite range of shades and tonal variations.
The drawing gradually drowns in the emerging body of paint and attains the statute that Spalletti establishes for it, that of the outline. There is no painting in the traditional sense of the term, but identification between paint and support; there is no sculpture in the sense of shaping, because the abrasive paper cancels all signs of emotivity. Spalletti’s works are painted in delicate colours over which he always applies white chalk. This prevents the paint from setting in a definitive structure,giving the surfaces a breadth that alludes to life and its figurativeness. “Arranging colours one after the other in order to describe an image, taking the observer on a voyage into the unknown … blue is an atmospheric colour; the blues I use in my works are always different; they can even be distinguished by almost imperceptible quantities of paint. I use blue because it is a colour which never presents itself through the surface of its existence but is a colour in which we are continuously immersed. And the same goes for pink…I use pink because it is the colour of the flesh, so it can always be transformed according to our emotions. In the drowsiness of the sea we can find silver grey. Grey is welcoming, it is a colour that moves towards white but also towards black, which offers the highest quality of all colours.”
Solo shows devoted to Spalletti’s works have been held at prestigious institutions such as the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples, the Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain in Strasbourg, the SMAK in Ghent and the MUHKA in Antwerp, the South London Gallery in London, the Musée d'Art Modern de la Ville in Paris, the Kunstverein in Munich, the Museum Folkwang in Essen, the Henry Moore Foundation in Leeds, Villa Medici in Rome and in the Museum Kurhaus Kleve. He has taken part in international exhibitions Various, Such as Documenta IX in Kassel and VII and the 40th, 44th, 46th and 47th editions of the Venice Biennial.
