ANDREA COLLESANO NEW HORIZONS
INTRODUCTION
When I began this new series of drawings, one feeling was very clear to me: inner peace.
I wanted to search for images that would give me a sense of peace, that would allow me to breathe, that would make me feel safe from the confusion of these present times.
Humanity needs to pause and breathe. Our planet needs to breathe.
To do this, I imagined a new world, one reborn from the current one, where humankind has disappeared. All that remains visible, across boundless horizons patiently imagined and drawn in ink, are symbols of a distant and silent humanity.
We are no longer there. Now, we are silent spectators.
There are traces of us: ancient structures, towers, lighthouses, seaside villas, temples and columns, all abandoned to time. Humanity has become a distant memory. Animals emerge once again, surprising the viewer with their beauty, their forms, their wonders. They gently and naturally reclaim the living space that was once taken from them.
I wanted to depict a calm and serene sea, stirred only by the smallest of waves. The eye follows the long horizon, and imagination carries us far away. It lets us drift off, carrying us to where we long to be.
I also wanted to represent trees, offering shelter and nourishment to the creatures of the earth. They give shade, flowers, and fruit. They are symbols of life and welcome.
There are animals, tiny insects, and gentle, curious gazes, drawn toward the small key that always appears in my work.
Creating these images is, for me, like meditation. It feels simple and mysterious, much like life itself, where everything happens or might happen.
This series of new drawings is a meditation. I hope it will capture your attention and offer you a moment of pure peace.
And perhaps it will make you long for a new horizon, one shaped by respect for nature and a love for the wonders of our planet.
Andrea Collesano, Spring 2025
Diceros Bicornis (Black Rhino)
Ink on paper 19.69 × 27.56 ins | 50 × 70 cm
Loxodonta Africana (Elephant)
Ink on paper 19.69 × 27.56 ins | 50 × 70 cm
Xiphias Gladius (Swordfish)
Ink on paper 27.56 × 39.37 ins | 70 × 100 cm
Vitalis (Parrot)
Ink on paper 16.54 × 12.6 ins | 42 × 32 cm
Hystrix Cristata (Tree With Porcupine)
Ink on paper 27.56 × 39.37 ins | 70 × 100 cm
left
Ritorno Ink on paper 61 × 45.28 ins | 155 × 115 cm above
Agrum Aura
Ink on paper 39.37 × 55.11 ins | 100 × 140 cm
Melagris (Tree With Turkeys)
Ink on paper 27.56 × 39.37 ins | 70 × 100 cm
Tyto Alba (Tree With Barn Owl)
Ink on paper 27.56 × 39.37 ins | 70 × 100 cm
Arecales (Palm Tree)
Ink on paper 43.31 × 9.84 ins | 110 × 25 cm
Ink on paper 13.78 × 13.78 ins | 35 × 35 cm
Ink on paper 13.78 × 13.78 ins | 35 × 35 cm
Macrocephalus (Whale)
Eubalaena Australis (Whale)
|
| 35 × 35 cm
Megaptera (Whale) Ink on paper 13.78 × 13.78 ins
35 × 35 cm
Balaena Mysticetus (Whale) Ink on paper 13.78 × 13.78 ins
Preghiera (Whale)
Ink on paper
16.54 × 55.51 ins | 90 × 141 cm
19.69
Balenoptera (Whale)
Ink on paper
× 27.56 ins | 50 × 70 cm
Physeter Macrocephalus (Whale)
Ink on paper 27.56 × 39.37 ins | 70 × 100 cm
Magnus Balaena Mysticetus (Whale)
Ink on paper
16.54 × 55.51 ins | 90 × 141 cm
Ink on paper 19.69 × 27.56 ins | 50 × 70 cm
Octopus Vulgaris (Octopus)
Eubalalena (Whale)
Ink on paper 27.56 × 39.37 ins | 70 × 100 cm
on paper 15.75 × 53.15 ins | 40 × 135 cm
Regalecus Clesne (Oarfish)
Ink
Noctis Levitas Ink on paper 19.68 × 11.81 ins | 50 × 30 cm
Dux Animalis
Ink on paper 19.68 × 27.55 ins | 50 × 70 cm
Monodon Monoceros (Narwhal)
Ink on paper 21.65 × 46.85 ins | 55 × 119 cm
Ink on paper 19.69 × 27.56 ins | 50 × 70 cm
Ascensione (Octopus)
| 36 × 69 cm
Delphiniade (Dolphin)
Ink on paper 14.17 × 21.17 ins
Ink on paper 14.17 × 21.17 ins | 36 × 69 cm
Sphyrnidae (Hammerhead Shark)
Simiiformes (Tree With Monkeys)
Ink on paper 27.56 × 39.37 ins | 70 × 100 cm
Primitiae
Ink on paper 23.62 × 11.41 ins | 60 × 29 cm
Ink on paper 31.49 × 23.62 ins | 80 × 60 cm above
Ink on paper 11.81 × 11.81 ins | 30 × 30 cm
Transire
Melodiam
ANDREA COLLESANO (b. Italy,
1980)
Andrea Collesano was born in Pontedera in 1980. He graduated in Painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence in 2004, presenting a thesis dedicated to the metamorphic and mythological figures in the work of Böcklin, with a particular focus on the animal world.
He lives and works in Forte dei Marmi, where the sea, nature, and wildlife continue to inspire his artistic research. From the smallest insects captured in delicate miniatures to large-scale drawings of whales and mysterious creatures of the deep, the animal world is at the heart of his practice.
Collesano works primarily with ink on paper, a medium he prepares himself to evoke the texture and atmosphere of ancient materials. The natural stains and aging effects become the starting point for the creation of his imaginary fauna, breathing life into a personal mythology rooted in the past. Inspired by ancient engravings, lost worlds, and symbolic imagery, his work explores the fragile beauty of nature and the silent presence of animals in timeless, dreamlike landscapes.
Since 2011, his research has expanded into sculpture, translating his ink creatures into bronze, giving form and volume to his visionary bestiary.
Recurring symbols such as keys, chessboards, distant horizons, and abandoned architectural fragments like lighthouses punctuate his works, suggesting narratives of absence, memory, and the passage of time. In these suspended worlds, humanity is absent. What remains is the silent, timeless presence of animals, guardians of a forgotten harmony, like fragments of a dream waiting to be rediscovered.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2025 New Horizon, Jonathan Cooper Art Gallery, London, UK
2023 After Us, Jonathan Cooper Art Gallery, London, UK
2021 D’Oro è il Giardino, Barbara Paci Galleria d’Arte, Pietrasanta, Italy
Dreams on Paper, Jonathan Cooper Art Gallery, London, UK
2019 Una Mano dalle Stelle, Palazzo Attila & Co., Milan, Italy
2018 Scope Miami Art Fair, Miami Beach, Florida, USA
Ephemeral Sea, Kuma Gallery, Marina di Scarlino, Grosseto, Italy
Cetacea, Galleria dell’Incisione, Brescia, Italy
2016 Scope Miami Art Fair – Under the Stars, Barbara Paci
Galleria d’Arte, Miami, Florida, USA
2015 Scope Miami Art Fair – Seven Seas, Barbara Paci
Galleria d’Arte, Miami, Florida, USA
Monaco Yacht Show, Principality of Monaco
De Rerum Natura – Supra Terram, Barbara Paci
Galleria d’Arte, Pietrasanta, Italy
2014 Balene, Palazzo Isimbardi, Milan, Italy
2013 Balene, Barbara Paci Galleria d’Arte, Pietrasanta, Italy
OFF Contemporary Art Fair, Brussels, Belgium
2012 La Chiave, il Sogno e l’Anima, Museo di Villa Bertelli, Forte dei Marmi, Lucca, Italy
AA Arte Accessibile, Palazzo Sole24ORE, Milan, Italy
2010 Men, Beasts, Shackles and Myth, with Jerry Lee Ingram, Straw Art Gallery, Jacksonville, Illinois, USA
Incontri d’Arte, Marco Balderi Showroom, Pietrasanta, Italy
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 Art Miami, Miami, Florida, USA
Small Works Holiday Exhibition, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA
Master Drawings, New York, USA
The Treasure House, London, UK
The Summer Exhibition, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA
The Miniature Show, London, UK
2023 Art Miami, Miami, Florida, USA
Jonathan Cooper: 35 Years, London, UK
Small Works, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA
Lapada Fair, Berkeley Square, London, UK
2022 Art Miami, Miami, Florida, USA
MASTERWORKS III, Jonathan Cooper Art Gallery, London, UK
2020 Art Verona (Digital Edition), Verona, Italy
Art Miami (Digital Edition), Miami, Florida, USA
Wopart (Digital Edition), Lugano, Switzerland
Paper Moods, Barbara Paci Galleria d’Arte, Pietrasanta, Italy
2019 Des Oiseaux, Galleria dell’Incisione, Brescia, Italy
Art Miami Fair, Barbara Paci Galleria d’Arte, Miami, Florida, USA
Wopart Fair, Barbara Paci Galleria d’Arte, Lugano, Switzerland
Investec Cape Town Art Fair, Barbara Paci Galleria
d’Arte, Cape Town, South Africa
2018 Cetacea, Galleria dell’Incisione, Brescia, Italy
Ephemeral Sea, Marina di Scarlino, Puntone (GR), Italy
Scope Miami Art Fair, Barbara Paci Galleria d’Arte, Miami, Florida, USA
2017
2016
500 Angeli & Artisti, Reggia di Monza, Monza, Italy
Le Vostre Luci Più Belle, F-Light Festival, Florence Museums, Church of San Lorenzo, Florence, Italy
Scope Miami Art Fair, Miami, Florida, USA
Work x 5, Clark Gallery, Boston, USA
Scope Miami Art Fair – Under the Stars, Barbara Paci Galleria d’Arte, Miami, Florida, USA
2015 Contemporary Istanbul Art Fair, Istanbul, Turkey
2014 It’s Time to Move, Barbara Paci Galleria d’Arte, Pietrasanta, Italy
Contemporary Istanbul Art Fair, Istanbul, Turkey
2013 Ars Nostra, Galleria L’Agostiniana, Piazza del Popolo, Rome, Italy
I Biennale dell’Acquerello e del Disegno, Castello di Levizzano, Modena, Italy
2012 Art Kyiv Contemporary, Kiev, Ukraine
Monaco Yacht Show, Principality of Monaco
Salone Nautico, Genoa, Italy
2011 Interventi, Colle Wanda, Massarosa, Lucca, Italy
Cave Canem, Itinerant Group Exhibition
2010 Arte al Plurale, Palazzo Carli, Sillico di Pieve
Fosciana, Lucca, Italy
Works © Andrea Collesano
Catalogue © Jonathan Cooper
Photography: Justin Piperger
Design: Graham Rees
Print: Five Castles Press
20 Park Walk London SW10 0AQ
t: +44 (0)20 7351 0410
mail@jonathancooper.co.uk
jonathancooper.co.uk
JONATHAN COOPER
