RINASCIMENTO

It was when I was studying Medieval and Renaissance Art that this work came to my mind. I started focusing on the face and how it has changed trough the eras and how the expression of feelings and the state of mind became the cornerstone of a whole new world: the birth of the portrait occurred together with a new interest for the persona. And then came the attention to detail, human detail. Lots of painters began to make anatomical studies: verisimilitude became vehicle of discovery. And it is through the discovery that a rebirth could take place: a Rinascimento. Even my work has been a research, not through books, paintings or films belonging to our life, but through familiar and unknown faces. In a little homemade studio I first took pictures of my models, trying to avoid false expressions despite the pose, and after, making huge prints of them, I felt free to look at those faces freely, stealing all the time that I needed, portraying them as if they were magnificent landscapes. In that place and from that moment, models in flesh and blood became paper and, finally, through the camera, they took the form of the painting. And the background is situated into another place, separated from the portrait, because, differently from the Renaissance, we are not allowed to live in a place that reflects our nature; but something natural seems to survive in our eyes. Manifesto We want The past to inspire us, not to restrict us The seagulls to be free to fly over the cities Men to be able to repossess the urban nature Men and women to look each other in the eyes Mouths to start speaking Ears to learn how to listen To be able to see the sky in the cities A human face to be our landscape The landscape to speak about men To be able to play with visual perception Be imaginative We want more roles We want rebirth We are the Renaissance