Paolo Franzoso
“I take notes
from past stories to draw a new one that is even more beautiful”.
Born in
Chioggia in the province of Venice and raised in the fervent Bolognese climate,
in a family particularly close to the arts and philosophy, from an early age he
cultivated, with curiosity and a spirit of innovation, a passion for beauty,
nature and music. Supported by this background, he applied his creative vein to
advertising communication, continuing his training, after graduating in Visual
Arts, with the practice of computer graphics, initially working as a freelancer
and later opening his own business in Adria. Franzoso's relentless creative,
experimental and interdisciplinary spirit soon led him to total dedication to
art. Following great changes that upset his life, in a stormy and eventful
period, under the pressure of various turbulences triggered by absolutely
personal experiences and changes, in 2015 he founded the Artisticheria a
studio, workshop and place of fruitful meetings and fraternal friendships. ,
like the one sanctioned with Marco Bertoli, a profound connoisseur of art, who
will support Franzoso during his activities in galleries and institutions.
Giving free rein to his imagination in this artistic space, he finds refuge
every day and gives birth to an explosive production. Franzoso's work is born
from this stormy laboratory of life, a locomotive, full of swirling expressive
energy, lively feeling, renewed strength and motivation, directed towards a
better tomorrow.
TECHNICAL
VARIATIONS AGAINST THE WEAR OF LIFE
"I
started painting to fill the emptiness of the sleepless nights that I suddenly
found myself living with color and this is how my life was recolored with
happiness".
Multifaceted active spectator, curious about
the freshest current events, the artist dares to rewrite and revolutionize the
rules of artistic techniques through innovative experiments, pushing himself
deeper than ever into the unconventional creation of unusual materials and the
breathtaking assembly of styles and visions. Like a two-faced Janus he loves
the visual and literary currents of the past and at the same time directs his
ecstasy and admiration for the most contemporary and current cultural trends,
such as Street Art and Graffiti. Writing, which ceaselessly culminates in his
kaleidoscopic thoughts and visions, plays a pivotal role in Paolo's artistic practice.
Franzosian canvases often and willingly report handwritten puns, mottos and
poetic quotations full of meaning, slogans and newspaper clippings that contain
explicit references to today's world. The self-taught approach and mental
eclecticism are not a futile accessory, but a lifeline, a pivotal pillar that
supports the artist in painstakingly tracing roads not yet traveled. Without
ever being a slave to the cliché he adopts quotationism, the dreamlike and
fairytale pairing of simple objects and fantastic images, the montage of layers
of collage and chromatic material; these are the characteristic elements that
constitute the beating heart and the driving force of his original and
“unrepeatable” artistic technique.
I GET DRUNK
WITH HAPPINESS
"It
seemed impossible to me to put my chaos in order in this small room and I asked
myself: how did it all fit into my even smaller head before?"
So first is
Chaos the key concept of the exhibition, "a wonderful disorder that tells
the story of life" says Franzoso.
From an
intimate attribute of artistic inspiration to a public phenomenon of modern
life, Chaos is to be understood in its most ancient meaning, as a primeval
entity, generative and open space, if not an abyss full of creative potential.
From the warmth of the domestic walls, rendered in a Picasso-style perspective,
marked by the disordered presence of everyday objects, delimited by bold drips
and outlines of expressionist appeal, the viewer's attention shifts to the
rhythmic and pounding disorder of the great metropolis, in which identity
anonymously hover between the antithesis of brands, signs, icons and
advertising logos of the mass media.
Other elements constantly return to the
artist's work. Otherworldly utopian visions, animated by Michelangelo's mythological
divine entities, by modern characters with a fantastic Pop style, alternate
gaudy circus and bohemian atmospheres, in which cylinders, tails, clowns,
acrobats and jugglers flutter. The bird's eye views, the theatrical scenes of
villages and cities are flanked by the romantic and silent dynamism of magical
seascapes which, blending with the scents and colors of the seasons, portray,
in the words of the artist: " an infinite moment of time "inviting
the viewer to a reflective pause necessary to evoke a sense of stillness and
happiness.
In their
sequence, the works lead us to understand the genesis of the artist's modus
operandi, his inner nature and his spirit of research and humanity. The
paintings are inspired by everyday objects and are created through the union of
painting practice and assembly.
This
combination of techniques, combined with inserts of material strokes and colors
with a unique charm, gives life to a series of artistic figures and linguistic
forms that reveal the thousand faces of a universe full of vitality. In the
canvases we observe not only naturalistic figurative representations, rich in
explicit references to the present world, but also puns, slogans, messages, at
times poetic, that hover over views and architectures animated by modern and
classic icons.
In the works
on display, subjects settled in the collective consciousness recur, drawn from
literature and the mass media, which transmit to the observer a reassuring
sense of familiarity and therefore serenity.
These
characteristic principles, which constitute the beating heart and the driving
force of his work, allow Franzoso's art to travel beyond its borders and to
capture, welcome, the attention of the public, even the less accustomed to the
world of art, inviting him to a reflective pause necessary to evoke a sense of
stillness and happiness.
Eugenia Battisti
See all artworks by Paolo Franzoso