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Silenzioso mi ritiro a dipingere un quadro
11–02–2019 / 23-04-2019


Silenzioso, mi ritiro a dipingere un quadro is the title of an early painting by Mimmo Paladino, who, in 1977, exemplified a renewed (and general) attention towards the intimate and conceptual dimension of painting as a practice – after decades of experimentation with other languages and materials that violently entered the territories of the visual arts. Today, after forty years since the creation of that painting, where does this practice stand among contemporary artistic experiences in Italy? Is painting still an intimate “body to body” experience between the artist and a specific medium and interlocutors? What are the routes of research characterizing this practice? What of the borders of the painting, which tangents and declinations do they express?
This exhibition was not conceived as an investigation of contemporary painting in itself. Such a complex and layered landscape cannot be summarized within the confines of a simple group show. Instead, the project focuses on individuality, bringing together a group of practitioners addressing specific questions. Issues that do not necessarily share a formal or intellectual approach but explore diverse research strands, including ideas of ecology, identity, the digital image, archetypes and simulacra, and political discourse.
This project does not only articulate an exploration; instead, it is a test that transforms the statement “Silenzioso, mi ritiro a dipingere un quadro” (Quiet, I withdraw to paint) into a loosely formulated question, observing some ways in which this process – both private and public – might belong to painting (and its disintegration) today. The show aims to investigate the dimension of “making,” through the painterly medium as well as through installations and sculptures.

Curated by Lorenzo Madaro.


exhibition link