#StayHome: art enters our houses

Art and creativity cannot be stopped. Worldwide, the thoughts of artists about the dramatic situation in which we find ourselves have not taken long to come. Livestreams, virtual exhibitions, messages of hope, in various forms, from painting, to dance and music are keeping us company (thankfully) on this long journey.

The art gallery “Punto sull’Arte”, in Varese, has grasped this feeling and has organised #StayHome, a new, exclusively online exhibition from 30 April to 16 May, with works by nine artists, painters and sculptors, who have always focused their search on the theme of city and home.

“This period of quarantine, which has limited our movements over the past month, has caused a big change in our everyday lives. Large cities have become deserted; on empty streets, only a few people and cars dart about, lonely and frightened; homes have been reinvented, becoming offices, schools, playgrounds and gyms. The boundary between private and public life has been cancelled, but new technologies are helping us, by recreating, within just four walls, new spaces, in which we have been catapulted and welcomed. The works in this exhibition give us the opportunity to reflect on the reality around us, and on the meaning and value which are present in the spaces we inhabit everyday,” the organisers explain.

The large, material paintings of Matthias Brandes echo the metaphysics of De Chirico. Time is suspended, stationary and tangible, just like the constructions that he presents to us once again. The atmosphere is full of suggestion, suddenly everything seems to evolve, instability seems to prevail, but the solidness of the cypresses and of the parallelepipeds comforts us and gives us an absolute moment of tranquillity.

The clean, linear and minimalist architectural designs of Carlo Cane stand out, full of details on milky white backgrounds, where the white and bluish-grey residues triumph. In this stage of his career, the artist captured the essence, and it is the intimacy, but at the same time, detached and cold quality of these buildings, monumental and free of ornaments, that prevails.

On Daniele Cestari‘s canvasses, the presence of man can be discerned from the trace that his passing has left, from the walls that are full of life. Although there is no one walking in the streets, no tourist inspecting every hidden corner, no clerk hurrying to reach his office, all of this, the frenzy and thoughts, become tangible through the extensive brushstrokes and spatula strokes. The immensity of the blue envelops us, the night falls and embraces us.

The darkness depicted by Luca Gastaldo is not scary, but reassuring. With the use of bitumen, oil and chalk, the horizon becomes immense and the rest seems to disappear. Nature takes the upper hand, creating romantic landscapes in which man becomes aware of his infinitely small being.

In her acrylics, Marta Mezynska captures hidden corners of our cities, her ever curious gaze is constantly in search of unusual views that go unnoticed by those who experience those cities every day. The colourful signs in the windows stand out vividly and sharply, emerging from the outlines of the city centres, showing us a new world, one that is there to be rediscovered.

Desolate and silent scenes are the unconscious protagonists of the paintings of Ernesto Morales. Each of us is called to reinterpret urban spaces in light of his own experience and imagination. The theme of migration is investigated according to new canons, and forces the observer to rethink his own identity and his role in society.

In Nicola Nannini‘s paintings, we find places that are familiar to us, even though there is not the slightest trace of man. Silence has become deafening, night has taken over the city, the lights have become warm and enveloping, only the artificial light of a few street lamps here and there enable us to glimpse the outlines of monuments in the squares.

Kyoji Nagatani‘s artistic expression is deeply linked to the Japanese minimalist essence. The simplicity of the linear and polished shapes of the bronze actually conceals a message hidden among the chiaroscuro that the material creates. The massive sculptures look graceful, thanks to the sinuous lines that invite to inspect deeper and deeper, and give a feeling of serenity.

Tomas Martinez Sunol regains possession of his city of origin, with shadows and colours that create compositions in which the expressive force contrasts perfectly with the warm and earthy shades in the views of Badalona. The surfaces are interrupted by lines that, at times, are imperceptible, and by windows that tell the story of human life.

The exhibition #StayHome can be visited on the Gallery’s website, from Thursday 30 April.

We will all keep a traces of these days in which we have experienced an alternative reality. In this period, we have been able to appreciate our surroundings, and the art contained in our homes has helped us, as art always does, to fill the gaps, to give us the chance to dream and imagine places we have never seen, to escape, at least with our thoughts, to a parallel reality.