Andrea Rizzo: Double Positive
Galerie Forsblom, March 22–April 21, 2024
Andrea Rizzo explores the relationship between the painting’s surface and its structure, or its supporting elements. Figurative content, symbols and colors – all things referencing the outside world – hold lesser interest for the artist. Rizzo usually executes his paintings in pairs, trios or even multiple versions. Working horizontally, he paints linear sequences that unfold in a constant state of flux. Rizzo’s process involves wetting his canvases and stacking them on top of each other while they are still wet, thus the surfaces continue their transformation process until they are fully dry.
In the series of paintings titled View, pigments and oils are substituted by runny liquids. The colored fluids create spontaneous surface textures as they spread and seep into the canvas abetted by gravity and the weight placed on top of them, oozing and trickling both downwards and sideways. As the canvases dry, the underlying structures become visible and clear lines begin to take shape. The free but controlled flow of liquids leaves distinctive traces on the canvas. Finally, the artist flips the canvases over, revealing their hidden, earlier state on the reverse side. Each trace upon the canvas thus acquires an isolated, handmade appearance, while at the same time recalling a machine-printed image, which self-reflexively raises salient questions about the whole process of painting.
Andrea Rizzo (b. 1993) is a budding young Italian artist who graduated with a master’s degree in fine arts from the Accademia di Brera in Milan in 2018. He has shown his work in group exhibitions across Italy. His upcoming exhibition at Galerie Forsblom will mark his solo debut. The artist lives and works in Milan.
Curated by Annalisa Lombardo