Galleria Franco Noero

VIA MOTTALCIATA 10/B
10154, TORINO
ITALY

De Pictura

16 April — 24 May 2014

Artists: Carla Accardi, Giovanni Anselmo, Tom Burr, Andrew Dadson, Sam Falls, Lara Favaretto, Mario Garcia Torres, Henrik Håkansson, Gabriel Sierra, Anicka Yi.

 

Painting undoubtedly occupies a place of primary, and possibly the greatest, importance in the history of art. It has traditionally been considered as one of the major arts, and no one would consider it to be anything but. The legacy of painting continues to influence and to be felt in contemporary art, an area in which there has been and still is constant debate between those who support this art form and those who would prefer to concentrate on practices involving forms of expression that could be said to be more radical.


The underlying premise for this show could be based on a phrase by Paul Valéry, who said: “We must always apologize when talking about painting”, and we are indeed aware that the causes behind these “apologies” are inevitable. The exhibition will include a series of works by contemporary artists who, while not directly using the medium of painting, show that they are fascinated by it, giving an opportunity to reflect on this form of art while not actually using it. The works on display will reveal a desire to reject the canvas as a support, while at the same time plunging into the intangible emotional corollary that has always been linked to painting.


These are works that can open up new directions, creating opportunities to go beyond painting and give concrete form to ideas that venture beyond the boundaries of the pictorial space as established by the canvas. Ideas that are often the result of admiration for painting, while also tending to question it.


The exhibition is actually a celebration – though intentionally not all-encompassing – of painting through its material absence. The artists who have been invited are often far from understood and they are considered as “painters” but, paradoxically, the works on display stubbornly insist, more or less directly, on presenting issues, attitudes and characteristics of “creating art” with a brush and canvas.

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