SOLILOQUY

Solitude, reflection on identity and the study of the space that we occupy in the world are at the centre of the double exhibition SOLILOQUY, which runs from October 6th until November 10th. The protagonists, both foreigners, are two of the artists most loved by the PUNTO SULL’ARTE public: the Chilean painter FEDERICO INFANTE and the Swedish sculptor JOHANNES NIELSEN. OPENING RECEPTION ON SATURDAY 6TH OCTOBER 2018 H 6pm-9pm.

In respect to his previous show, Infante seems here to have carried the dichotomy between the work’s central figure and the space that surrounds it to the extreme. Indeed, the backgrounds – executed with an original and profoundly instinctive technique – are more and more uncertain, sometimes covered with abstract, circular patterned symbols, while the figures crystallise into a detailed vision, well-defined, characterised even by the details of clothing. The latent sense of solitude remains intact, to the point of melancholiness, whether in the figures who turn their shoulders from us, or in those who face the front, assertive, but who deny us their gaze by lowering it or hiding it behind sunglasses. Also Nielsen brings his work’s most recent evolution to the exhibition, which moves from the investigation of man towards the experience of the body. His spindly figures, reminiscent of Giacometti, are broken and recomposed in spatial games that recall Antony Gormley’s experimentations. Here then the figures are riddled with holes, that reveal missing parts as if they had been cancelled out with the stroke of an eraser; divided lengthwise into two as if separated by a sword blow. Or broken and rejoined contrarily, two opposing halves like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or an individual broken in the incessant search for his identity and his role in the world.

The exhibition is accompanied by a bilingual catalogue produced by PUNTO SULL’ARTE, containing the critical text by curator Alessandra Redaelli and reproductions of the exhibited works.

FEDERICO INFANTE: was born 1982 in Santiago (Chile). He attends the Finis Terrae University in Santiago (Chile) and the School of Visual Art in New York. Raised in close contact with the Chilean landscape, he developed a strong sense of contemplation from an early age. Each of his paintings follows a personal process of creative intuition that begins with the methodical, expressive act of covering the canvas with various layers of paint and then, only afterwards, starts to visualise the situations, the landscapes and the points of lights within the canvas, seeking a suggestive and fertile atmosphere that gives life to that which he believes to be the figurative element of the painting: a standing person, a part of architecture that emerges from the dark, a calm sky. He has exhibited in numerous successful solo shows and group exhibitions in the United States, in Chile and in Italy. His work is included in private collections in the United States, in Europe (including France, Belgium, Germany and Italy), Saudi Arabia and Singapore. In 2015 he illustrated the edition of Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita published by the Folio Society. He lives and works in Richmond (Virginia – USA).

JOHANNES NIELSEN: was born in 1979 in Falkenberg (Sweden). After attending the Lund School of Art he moves to Dublin in 2003 where he takes the role of assistant to the famous sculptor Patrick O’Reilly, thanks to which he refines his sculptural practice. His sculptures are light and filiform works characterised by a minimalist aesthetic that transmits essentiality and movement. Delicate and light human bodies and animals made using trees as exceptional models result in stylised human and animal figures, in perfect mimesis with nature, that recall atmospheres full of suggestions aimed at reminding us that everything is uniquely and inevitably temporary. He has participated in numerous fairs and exhibitions in Europe and Asia. His works are included in numerous public and private collections in Sweden, Italy, London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, Kaliningrad, Hollywood, New York and Montreal. He has lived and worked in Beijing (China) since 2007.