Enzo Fiore - Paolo Vegas | OPENING

FIORE VEGAS
The Charm of Appropriation

DECEMBER 28TH, 2023 – APRIL 2ND, 2024
P.zza Silvestro Franceschi 7
Cortina d’Ampezzo

Contini Art Gallery is pleased to present the exhibition “Enzo Fiore and Paolo Vegas: The Charm of Appropriation”, which will feature works by artists Enzo Fiore and Paolo Vegas. The opening will be attended by the artists and will be held on Thursday, December 28th, 2023 at the venue on Piazza Silvestro Franceschi 7 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, in the heart of the Dolomites.

The exhibition offers an intriguing dialogue between works made with very different techniques: the juxtaposition and layering of organic materials in Enzo Fiore's canvases will encounter Paolo Vegas' photographic manipulations. The viewer will thus have the opportunity to explore the different themes of the two artists, with two divergent perspectives.

Enzo Fiore is always trying to capture something new, some details he might previously have missed, while 
continuing to investigate how small changes can affect perception. On the other hand, he repurposes a pre-
existing archetype, be it a masterpiece of Art History or a subject taken from reality, bringing it back, materially and conceptually, to an earthly dimension. An obvious example of his poetics can be found in the various studies of the "Virgin of the Rocks." Inspired by Leonardo's masterpiece carrying the same title, Fiore goes beyond an apparent reproduction. His works take on the scope of an in-depth study, so much so that he pays homage through the concept of repetition to Leonardo's work. Remaining faithful to the beauty of the subjects, Fiore takes on the responsibility of flanking an iconic work, but in his genius, manages to recreate it in a modern twist. Indeed, through the constant of Repetition, this is a perfect example of his 
extraordinary ability to glue the great History of Art with contemporary art.

Moreover, Fiore draws attention to the phenomenon, widespread since the 1900s, of the glorification of Myth by humankind. Those very icons that are universally celebrated, so much so that they become objects of veneration are stripped of their sacredness.  Such process is referred to by Fiore as “Appropriation”, along with the resulting series of works that take inspiration from there. The artist draws on the natural world as a palette, "painting" through the use of organic material, such as moss, leaves, roots, soil and even insects. Hence, his work is not artificial, but natural, just as the substance of which living beings are composed comes from nature. In doing so, the innovative power of his works emerges, able to stand side by side in the round with the academic tradition of the great masterpieces of art, from Pop Art to the Renaissance. The artist becomes a messenger of a common tradition by reinterpreting and shaping it through new mediums in a contemporary key.

For Paolo Vegas, repetition instead takes the form of cloning a photographic subject and is meant to reinforce 
the underlying narrative in his works. The portrayed subjects, duplicated, seem to live in different snapshots 
of the same script. At the same time, the artist uses repetition as a visual device to highlight the commodification of the female body, and as such, its mass reproducibility. In fact, a veiled critique of society 
is never missing in the artist's work, which often confronts the consumerist aspect of contemporaneity, in which a man is what he desires, buys and uses. The artist addresses the theme of commercialization of the female body in a completely original way. Stereotyped bodies of half-naked young women assume provocative poses and attitudes bordering on paroxysmal and almost caricatural accentuation.

The cloning of photographic subjects is achieved by Vegas through a meticulous execution process: the artist works as in a commercial set, choosing location, cast, style and script. Then positioning the camera at a fixed point, Vegas takes multiple shots of the same scene, keeping the focal distance unchanged and simply rotating the camera. In this way, each frame obtained goes into a fragment of the final image. Also crucial is post-production, through which Vegas brings hyperbolic narratives, with cinematic characters, to life. Thus, it is that ribbons, bags, scarves, and real three-dimensional objects, make their appearance within the work, imposing materially themselves on the print as in a collage. These objects somehow bind themselves to the narrative, to the experience of the protagonist, becoming his artificial alter ego.

It is clear from the exhibition layout how, in the work of these two artists, the spasmodic search toward repetition slowly emerges from work to work, which is thus conceived as an evolution. Each creation, even though appears as the result of an obsession, does not exasperate the viewer but, if anything, induces him toward a deeper investigation.

Enzo Fiore was born in Milan in 1968. After attending art high school in Milan, he graduated in painting in 1991 from the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, under the guidance of Maestro Luciano Fabro. For several years, he devoted himself to the restoration of ancient paintings and the creation of stage sets. Since his debut as an artist in 1997, Fiore has drawn directly from nature to create his works, making use of a unique technique based on the use of moss, leaves, roots, earth, stones, resin and cement, combining together forms suspended between reality and fantasy, often introducing in his creations the use of various insects. Since 2006, he has been represented by the Contini Art Gallery in Venice and Cortina d'Ampezzo, which has given rise to numerous solo and group exhibitions both within the gallery spaces and at important public institutions. Among those, in 2008 the Palazzo Ducale in Sabbioneta (Mantua), in 2012 the Complesso del Vittoriano in Rome, in 2013 the Palazzo Callas in Sirmione, in 2017 Fondazione Bevilacqua-La Masa in Venice, in 2022 the 
Galleria Comunale di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Viareggio (GAMC) and at Palp in Pontedera. His works can be found in numerous public and private collections. Enzo Fiore currently lives and works near Milan.

Paolo Vegas was born in Biella in 1973. Graduated from the European Institute of Design in 1992, he began his activity as a photographer in Milan where he collaborated since 1993 with several photographers and advertising agencies. In November '97 in Milan, he presented his work in an exhibition entitled 'People and Things'. In December '97 he took part in a charity initiative, collaborating on a photographic project for Emergency. He collaborated as an assistant for international photographers such as Giac Casale, Joe Oppedisano and Giovanni Gastel in the creation of advertising campaigns for Barbour, Peugeot '98, Algida '99, Yellow Pages, Richard Ginori, Irge and the Same calendar. Paolo Vegas' artistic path was strongly 
influenced by this period. In 2011 he was invited, with Omar Ronda, to participate in the 54th Venice Biennale at the Italian Pavilion. From 2014 to 2017 he is represented by the London-based Contini Art UK Gallery and since 2018 by the Venice-based Contini Art Gallery, which in 2019 presented his solo exhibition 'Stories of People and Things' at the Cortina d'Ampezzo venue. Her work is in the private collection of the M.A.C.I.S.T. - Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Internazionale Senza Tendenze museum and in numerous public and private collections. 

The Vernissage will take place on Saturday, December 28th, 2023 - 6:30 pm in the presence of the artists

The exhibition will remain open daily until April 2nd, 2024

Opening Hours: 10:00 am – 1:00 pm / 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm