Salvatore Provino - Reflections

The work draws on an Informal aesthetic language. The devastation wrought by the Second World War left a profound mark on Western civilization, which in the visual arts also resulted in an inability to communicate. For some artists, this challenge resulted in a total rejection of any visual language, resulting in the birth of Informal Art. The various Informal movements are certainly connected to American Abstract Expressionism, especially with regard to the gestural component, but they go further in their rejection of any figurative element, even geometric. Their exploration focuses instead on the material with which they compose their works. Salvatore Provino's artistic research has progressively shifted from geometric abstraction towards a complete poetics of Informal Art. Provino's mature works, such as the one here presented, indicate the achievement of an original and recognizable artistic style.

In Salvatore Provino's Informal period works, it's clear how the elements of matter and gesture play a key role. First, the paint layer creates a dense, almost cement-like layer on the canvas's surface, in its iridescent shades of gray. Here, the artist expresses his gesture by directly incising grooves into the paint, but also by creating pictorial marks. In most of Provino's works, the mark takes the form of an irregular path, almost spontaneously developing, branching out and connecting at the same time. The aesthetic impact is striking in what appears to be a fragmentation of the material. All this, combined with the material nature of the paint layer, gives the impression of a spontaneous and dramatic crackling, which transfigures the artist's perception.

Salvatore Provino was born in Bagheria in 1943. He frequented the studio of fellow citizen Renato Guttuso, and in 1964 the Galleria Consorti in Rome organized his first solo exhibition, in which he evoked the places of his childhood. In the 1960s, his painting style became closer to the English style, particularly that of Francis Bacon. In 1974, the artist embraced Lobachevsky's theory regarding the sphericity of the body and geometry as the structure of physical space. 1979 marked the beginning of what can be considered his period of full maturity, when painting, made of matter and color, became the tool for exploring the expressive quest for a dynamic and infinite world through the gestures of the sign. Salvatore Provino has held numerous solo exhibitions in important national public spaces, such as the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara, the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, Castel dell'Ovo in Naples, and the Magazzini del Sale in Cervia. He has also exhibited in the most important museums of Shenzhen, Shenyang, Canton, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Changshu.

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