SUL DISEGNO E LA PITTURA - (Ne Usciremo) ENZO CUCCHI VALERIO NICOLAI DIEGO PERRONE ANDREA RESPINO CURATED BY RENATO LEOTTA - Frieze

SUL DISEGNO E LA PITTURA
      (Ne Usciremo)

           ENZO CUCCHI
          VALERIO NICOLAI
          DIEGO PERRONE
          ANDREA RESPINO

     CURATED BY RENATO LEOTTA

                      MADRAGOA
         Rua do Machadinho, 45 1200-705 Lisboa - PORTUGAL
            galeriamadragoa.pt - info@galeriamadragoa.pt

On Drawing and Painting (Ne Usciremo)                        tinguished with watercolor.” Or I find it in a liquid
February 05 – March 20, 2021                                 state in the artist’s studio, where the color drains
                                                             from above (Scolone) – in a surreal representa-
                                                             tion of the room where he is painting and which
A small Lekythos of pinkish orange clay with bla-            is now absorbed by the canvas.
ck paint, from the excavations of Kamarina, gui-
ded my thoughts. The black line of its drawing               In these funambulistic pirouettes, the line keeps
is simultaneously an expression of the hand and              on rotating on the ancient painter’s Lekythos. In
the eye. It unfolds along the entire external sur-           Enzo Cucchi’s ceramics, black (the drawing)
face of the small artifact that rotates, endlessly.          and yellow lines (the bird’s beak) are archaic
                                                             signs of Phoenician and Fancellian memory.
The line, when looked at by rotating the small
terracotta vessel with the hand, becomes cine-               Maleficent mushrooms, walking flies, birds that
ma and the drawing traced by the ancient pain-               look like whistles, are the ironic and Mediterra-
ter is emancipated from painting, it goes out of             nean memory of a hypothetical origin – of an ide-
the picture – out of the support? It gets out.               al and non-formalistic nature – of drawing and
The line, wrapping like a charge on the surface              painting in Italy.
of the jar, envelops my hand, ties it to the owl,
which appears and disappears to the rhythm                   Renato Leotta
of stylized lotus buds, stuck between two laurel             Turin, January 2021
branches.

In the exhibition, the oil canvas (Fottuto Eden VI)
by Andrea Respino depicts a place seen as in a               Andrea Respino (Italy, 1976) lives and works in Turin.
tracking shot: immersive, wide spaces, but alwa-             In his drawings and paintings, particular objects and
ys empty. Places beaten by rain and bad wea-                 settings give shape to a world of men from various
ther passed through by men who rather inhabit                ages engaged in odd, recurring actions. In spite of
the pastel drawings, engaged in indecipherable               these activities, his figures are often in an incomple-
activities. Their bodies are cinematically cut by            te or implausible state of dress, or definitely naked.
an action that brings the viewer’s eye forward in            In some works, like in the series titled Fottuto Eden,
a single push, a nervous close up on the sub-                the characters are actually absent, but their presen-
jects (Il principio eccentrico).                             ce is still palpable in the surviving and ambiguous
                                                             objects, and in the incongruous architecture.In 2018
The thrust (and perhaps also the sound) of a foot            Respino has undertaken a solo career after a ten ye-
stepping on a puddle superimposes the image                  ars collaboration with Davide Gennarino. As the duo
of the sole of the foot itself on that of the head;          Alis/Filliol they have had solo exhibitions at Fonda-
in the pen drawing by Diego Perrone (Untitled),              zione Arnaldo Pomodoro, Milan, Italy (2017); Istituto
as in a vertical superimposition of head and tail,           Italiano di Cultura, Paris, France (2016), MEF Museo
the frames of the end and the beginning of a film            Ettore Fico, Turin, Italy (2015); GAM, Galleria d’Ar-
are overlaid and seen against the light together             te Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin, Italy, (2014);
(containing the whole film compressed between                Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy
them).                                                       (2013), among others. Their works have also been
                                                             shown in several group exhibitions, including: In-
The candlelight that illuminates the Mannerist               tuition, Palazzo Fortuny, Venice, Italy (2017); Être
and Baroque scenes is off. The expanded nar-                 Chose, Centre international d’art et du paysage de
rative that Valerio Nicolai puts into practice in his        Vassivière, Ile de Vassivière, France (2015); Codice
work includes everything that surrounds it: the              Italia, Italian Pavilion 56th International Art Exhibition,
materials that compose it, the studio and the to-            Venice Biennale (2015) and Le Statue Calde. Scul-
ols, in a deceptive semantics. I find the painting           tura-corpo-azione 1945-2013, Museo Marino Marini,
outside the canvas but in the title: “candles ex-            Florence, Italy (2014).

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ch Obrist, Chiara Parisi, Villa Medici, Roma (2018);
Enzo Cucchi (Morro d’Alba, Ancona, Italy. 1949) lives         53° Biennale di Venezia - Il Palazzo Enciclopedico,
and works in Rome.                                            a cura di Massimiliano Gioni, La Biennale di Vene-
In the late 1970s, Cucchi became one of the leading           zia, Giardini - Arsenale, Venezia (2013); His work
figures of the Transavanguardia, a name coined by             has been shown in different exhibitions in renowned
critic Achille Bonito Oliva to define the reintroduction      international institutions such as: Animations, P.S.1
of figuration into painting and sculpture, as a reac-         Contemporary Art Center, New York, USA (2001);
tion to minimalism and conceptual rigour. Alongside           Perspectif cinema 2003-2004, screenings, Centre
Cucchi, the group was composed by Sandro Chia,                Georges Pompidou, Paris, France (2004); The Sha-
Francesco Clemente, Nicola De Maria, and Mimmo                pes of Space, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum,
Paladino. The movement became known internatio-               New York, USA (2007); After Nature, New Museum,
nally in 1980 with a travelling exhibition at Kunsthalle      New York, USA (2008); Nathalie Djurberg & Diego
Basel, the Folkwang Museum in Essen and the Ste-              Perrone, Whitechapel Gallery, London, GB (2008);
delijk Museum in Amsterdam and with their parti-              Ennesima. Una mostra di sette mostre sull’arte italia-
cipation at Documenta 7 in 1982. Since the 1970s,             na,Triennale di Milano, Milan curated by Vincenzo de
Cucchi has presented numerous solo exhibitions in             Bellis (2015).
institutions worldwide: the Stedelijk Museum, Ams-
terdam (1983), The Solomon R. Guggenheim Mu-                  Valerio Nicolai (Gorizia, Italy, 1988), lives and works
seum, New York (1986), Centre Georges Pompidou,               in Milan.
Paris (1986), Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus,              He studiet at Accademia delle Belle Arti in Venice.
München (1987), Wiener Secession, Vienna (1988),              His solo shows include, among others: Amarena, Cli-
Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg (1992), Castello                ma, Milan (2019); Heart’s rock and Potato’s spirit, Las
di Rivoli, Turin (1993), Sezon Museum of Art, Tokyo           Palmas Project, Lisbon; Prospettiva di una matrioska,
(1996), Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Hamburg (1999),               smART Foundation, Rome; Processo a porcospino,
Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv (1999 and 2001),             Clima, Milan (2017); Trasformazione permanente di
and Villa Medici, Rome (2006).                                un mago in formica, Treti Galaxie, Turin (2016). Se-
                                                              lected gruop exhibition: Quadriennale Arte 2020,
                                                              Roma; Art Residency - Port Tonic Art Center; SWAMP
Diego Perrone (Asti, Italy 1970; he lives and works           HORSES, Spirit Vessel, Espinavessa (2019), strape-
between Milan and Asti. Diego Perrone’s universal             retana 2018, curated by Saverio Verini, Pereto (AQ),
vision and poetics are deeply rooted in the particular        Trigger Party, curated by Andrea Magnani e Zoe De
mysterious allure of provincial and suburban lives.           Luca, Marselleria, Milan (2018); A night out of town,
Rural life and daunting, foggy landscapes where, in           Clima, Milan (2016); Shit and die, curated by Mauri-
between the hills, are small brutalist villas, the artist’s   zio Cattelan, Palazzo Cavour, Turin (2014).
epicentre of all neurosis. Perrone challenges these
psychotic, but apparently flawless, existences by
tiptoeing in and out of a surreal daze inhabited by
agricultural machinery, fish, and uncanny shapes.
His recent solo shows include, among others: Self
Portraits, Casey Kaplan, New York (2017); Herbivo-
rous Carnivorous, Massimo De Carlo, Milano (2017);
War Games, curated by Francesco Garutti, Villa del
Principe - Palazzo di Andrea Doria, Genova (2017);
Margini, Oratorio di Santa Maria delle Grazie, Vigo-
leno (2017);; His recent group shows include: Octa-
gonMaroncelli 12, a cura di Matt Paweski & Jacopo
Mazzetti, Octagon x Maroncelli 12, Milano (2019);
Sublimi Anatomie, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Roma
(2019); La Collezione San Patrignano Work In Pro-
gress, La Triennale di Milano, Milano (2018); Take Me
(I’m Yours), a cura di Christian Boltanski, Hans Ulri-

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Sul disegno e la pittura (Ne Usciremo)
2021
Installation view at Madragoa, Lisbon

    MADRAGOA
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Sul disegno e la pittura (Ne Usciremo)
2021
Installation view at Madragoa, Lisbon

    MADRAGOA
5   Rua do Machadinho, 45 1200-705 Lisboa - PORTUGAL   SUL DISEGNO E LA PITTURA (Ne Usciremo)
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Andrea Respino
Fottuto Eden VI
2020
Oil on canvas
200 × 150 cm
unique

    MADRAGOA
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Valerio Nicolai
Candele spente ad acquerello #1
2020
Watercolour on paper
66 × 101 cm
unique

    MADRAGOA
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Enzo Cucchi
Untitled 10
2015
Vitrified ceramic
16 × 12 × 10 cm
unique

     MADRAGOA
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Enzo Cucchi
Untitled 8
2015
Vitrified ceramic
13 × 10 × 10 cm
unique

     MADRAGOA
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Sul disegno e la pittura (Ne Usciremo)
2021
Installation view at Madragoa, Lisbon

     MADRAGOA
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Diego Perrone
Senza titolo (Untitled)
2018
Ballpoint pen on paper
60 × 73 cm
unique

     MADRAGOA
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Sul disegno e la pittura (Ne Usciremo)
2021
Installation view at Madragoa, Lisbon

     MADRAGOA
12   Rua do Machadinho, 45 1200-705 Lisboa - PORTUGAL   SUL DISEGNO E LA PITTURA (Ne Usciremo)
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Sul disegno e la pittura (Ne Usciremo)
2021
Installation view at Madragoa, Lisbon

     MADRAGOA
13   Rua do Machadinho, 45 1200-705 Lisboa - PORTUGAL   SUL DISEGNO E LA PITTURA (Ne Usciremo)
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Valerio Nicolai
Scolone
2020
Oil on canvas
177 × 87 cm
unique

     MADRAGOA
14   Rua do Machadinho, 45 1200-705 Lisboa - PORTUGAL   SUL DISEGNO E LA PITTURA (Ne Usciremo)
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Enzo Cucchi
Untitled 9
2015
Vitrified ceramic
8 × 37 × 39 cm
unique

     MADRAGOA
15   Rua do Machadinho, 45 1200-705 Lisboa - PORTUGAL   SUL DISEGNO E LA PITTURA (Ne Usciremo)
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Sul disegno e la pittura (Ne Usciremo)
2021
Installation view at Madragoa, Lisbon

     MADRAGOA
16   Rua do Machadinho, 45 1200-705 Lisboa - PORTUGAL   SUL DISEGNO E LA PITTURA (Ne Usciremo)
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Andrea Respino
Presenze II
2020
pastel on wooden panel
51 × 38 cm
unique

     MADRAGOA
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Andrea Respino
Presenze
2020
pastel on wooden panel
51 × 38 cm
unique

     MADRAGOA
18   Rua do Machadinho, 45 1200-705 Lisboa - PORTUGAL   SUL DISEGNO E LA PITTURA (Ne Usciremo)
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Andrea Respino
Il principio eccentrico
2020
pastel on wooden panel
31 × 23 cm
unique

     MADRAGOA
19   Rua do Machadinho, 45 1200-705 Lisboa - PORTUGAL   SUL DISEGNO E LA PITTURA (Ne Usciremo)
     galeriamadragoa.pt

MADRAGOA
Rua do Machadinho, 45 1200-705 Lisboa - PORTUGAL
   galeriamadragoa.pt - info@galeriamadragoa.pt