Gianni Testa - Composition

In the history of art, a clear distinction can often be made between figurative and abstract stylistic currents. However, when an artist's goal is to represent an object that resonates with phenomenal reality but is simultaneously charged with hidden and symbolic meaning, this boundary can become blurred. Symbolism and Expressionism are emblematic stylistic currents in their conceptual interpretation of reality, with an iconic rendering of images and a symbolic interpretation in the use of color. Thus, in this bas-relief, Gianni Testa produces a study of the female nude, drawing iconographically on a mythological theme. He begins with this reality to distort the execution expressively.

In this bas-relief, Gianni Testa seems to favor compositional rhythm, which gives the work its expressive power, rather than a naturalistic rendering. Indeed, the three women are depicted in an entirely abstract manner, devoid of any physiognomic or individual characterization. They are three forms, volumes functional to the compositional economy of the work, its balance, and its movement. Thus, the three figures provide the pretext for creating a complex, extremely dynamic composition based on the repetition of zigzagging diagonal lines. The movement of the women's bodies is then echoed throughout the bas-relief through a treatment of the rough surface, carried out by a rough-hewn technique that conveys the sense of concrete material.

Gianni Testa is an artist born in Rome in 1936, where he still lives and works. Throughout his career, he has participated several times in the Rome Biennale and Quadrennial, and the Milan Triennale. He has exhibited his work in numerous shows in Italy and abroad (Germany, Basel, New York, Philadelphia). He has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Vittorio Sgarbi. In 2014, he was the subject of a retrospective exhibition at the Complesso del Vittoriano in Rome, presented by Claudio Strinati.

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