"FABLE" Official CATALOGUE

Curated by Art Directors Carlo Greco and Alessandra Magni Critical texts by Art Curators Alessia Di Martino Alessia Perone Camilla Gilardi Cecilia Terenzoni Erika Gravante Federica D’Avanzo Francesca Brunello Giorgia Massari Giulia CalÏ Giulia Zanesi Guendalina Cilli Lisa Galletti Lorenza Traina Maria Cristina Bianchi Marta Graziano Martina Stagi Martina Viesti Silvia Grassi Vanessa Viti Ylenia De Giosa

“The Nothing is the void that surrounds us, it is the despair that destroys the world. The Nothing spreads because people have given up their hope. But there is a world, Fantàsia, the realm of human fantasy, where every element of it, every creature of it emerges from the dreams and hopes of humanity; therefore, Fantàsia cannot be it and will never have borders!”

(Michael Ende, The NeverEnding Story) The fables are tales of pure fantasy, full of mystery and enchantment, which are found in every country’s culture; in them nature comes alive with magical presences that do not hesitate to reveal themselves. In addition to interpreting enchanted and dreamlike places, which attract the eye of the observer and invite him to free himself in an idyllic environment, it is fundamental to take a critical perspective: one finds there the pleasure of narrating the existential condition of the human beings, often representing their inner voice and experiences, trying to pass down wisdom or moral truth, embodying the intention of the human beings to change and improve themselves. Who has not ever shed tears at the end of a wonderful story, leaving those characters with whom extraordinary adventures had been lived? Who has ever imagined to be one of the protagonists of the narrative? There is a tendency to confine the fable to childhood and pre-adolescence: in reality, it is the imagination that derives from certain stories that gives shape to sensations and emotions which do not appear clear and defined at first. The relationship between written text and the creation of images was firstly found in Aristotle, who approached the term phantasía (fantasy) which comes from phàos (light): and this is how “imagination” was given a meaning, namely as a “faculty that allows everyone to think and process ideas through images”, exactly what we need to make the fable. By realizing the unimaginable and the unthinkable, the power of the fable has expanded considerably, and it is capable of taking a shape through the arts. For instance, artists such as Giotto or Van Gogh represented several times in their works great starry skies, whose as in the stories, symbolize the universe, the place of the divine and a metaphor for the spirit. A kind of imagery based on a real and mystical equilibrium, deriving from feelings and sensations: on these emotions, a personal aesthetic vision of the fable is made up in our unconscious. A painter like Marc Chagall was at the peak of his success when his paintings were sought and later appreciated by art critics, to the extent that he was able to illustrate the stories of the writer Jean de La Fontaine: literature and art thus found themselves going alongside on the same track by producing results with a great innovative scope. Today as then, artists of all contemporary movements celebrate the extraordinary optimism of the fairy tale through a variety of works, from paintings to sculptures, illustrations to photographs, and much more; moreover, they have revolutionized the way of seeing and interpreting fairy tales and, through art, they have transformed them into an extremely powerful message capable of changing the surrounding reality. Going further the literary genre, they have conceived the fairy-tale as a medicine made to heal their wounds, inflicted by the future’s uncertainty, with the aim to escape from a life that does not give any kind of positive emotions. Imagination can be the only means that empower us to face the problems in the real world: we must have the courage to dive into it and let ourselves be carried away. Only in this way we could awake our creative thoughts and build a new fable, a new universe of values. Albert Einstein once claimed that “knowledge is limited, imagination encloses the world”, a statement which turns out to be increasingly true nowadays. The fable can teach us to read again with an open mind and to find a way back to the time when every day was a new discovery. Imagination is at the heart of everything. Every artist goes beyond the mere appearance and keeps his enthusiasm alive, transforming art as a means between reality and fantasy. The world of imagination is open to anyone who wants to fantasize about their dreams, to create perceptive and sensory images, a compelling and intriguing story that gives vent to one’s desires, trying to dream when you were a child, by getting into that dreamlike world with fantastic stories . We need to live like in a fairy tale, to let ourselves go, putting aside the known world and entering into a new one full of love and hope.

Imagination helps to grow! So, close your eyes, fantasize and express yourself freely!

Concept edited by Alessia Perone, Art Curator, graduated in Sciences of Cultural Heritage and in History and Criticism of Art

Abha Rani Singh

Abha is a contemporary Indian artist who has been living in Vietnam for more than a decade. In addition to painting, she loves to write and travel. She presents herself as a self-taught artist, ready to paint with all the means at her disposal. “Soliloquy” is a collage on canvas, through which the artist expresses herself and her idea of art. Collage, as such, was popular among artists belonging to movements such as Surrealism, Dada and Nouveau Réalisme - in fact, legends such as Jean Dubuffet, Kurt Schwitters and Man Ray are among those who with their influential works of art have helped to form the very definition of the medium - and let’s not forget the contributions of a certain Henri Matisse, whose collages are still very popular on the market. The extensive use of collage also inspired the birth of Cubomania, a surrealist method in which an image is cut into squares, which are then reassembled automatically or at random. In addition to Cubomania, the technique has also evolved into other categories, including decoupage, which includes decorative paper clippings, collage in painting and on wood, photocopying and, more recently, digital collage. Contemporary and very modern, therefore, Abha blends these ideas and creates her works of art by putting together illustrated cutouts, breaking the concept of traditional gender roles. Her creativity is always alive and keeps, to the eye of the spectator, a perfect chromatic linearity. Modern Indian architecture, from an expressive power to her work, interspersed with entrance doors and bearded faces. Each element keeps its own identity eternal while blending well with all the other elements of the work.

Art Curator Federica D’Avanzo

Abha Rani Singh

Soliloquy

AK Delaunay “I put my heart and soul into my work, and I have lost my mind in the process.� (V. Van Gogh)

Aicha Kavy lives in Saint Nazaire in France, she loves working on colors because for her they are the reflection of her personality and her dynamism. Her works are unique and original and are inspired by her feelings, the current situation of things and events that can shake his life. She is an intuitive artist with a different attitude to painting and inn general has a different approach to art. The artist does not follow a plan or an idea but dives every time in a creative adventure as charming and stimulating as mysterious, in this way the aesthetic of her works, ceases to be the purpose of painting and what is really concerning is the creative process. Play and exploration take survival on technique and representation and they are led by a free and spontaneous pictorial gesture. Aicha relies to the intuition that guides her through the painting and the creating process, where it comes directly from the heart avoiding going through the head. Painting in this way gives us the possibility to elude the self-sabotaging traps of thought and bypassing conditioning and mental structures to leave our most authentic and deep part intact. Through shapes and colors the artist tells what words are not able to be expressed, we give voice to those parts of us to which we rarely allow to manifest. Her works are a creative adventure, an exciting journey, a deep experience that allows us to hear the voice of her soul.

Art Curator Erika Gravante

AK Delaunay

Bonbon fleurs

AK Delaunay

Etoile du Berger

AK Delaunay

OVNI

Àlex Mañé Montané

About two thousand years after the invention of paper in China, collage artists and collage art itself found their true form in the early stages of modernism - through Pablo Picasso, it’s a popular opinion, and his 1912 Still Life with Chair Caning - a work on which a piece of oil canvas was attached. Coming from the French verb “coller”, meaning “clue”, the term was coined by the Spanish artist along with Georges Braque, describing a technique born as a response to the First World War, a powerful tool to make even more powerful claims. A little less three-dimensional than assembly, the art of collage allowed artists to deal with existing materials, to whom they assigned new contexts to create an original work of art. From newspapers and magazines to maps, tickets, propaganda, photographs, tapes, stamps, paintings, texts and found objects, the elements of the Collage participate in a practical creative process of putting together the works of art and even to break them down, in an artistic exploration into the unknown. Recycling and transforming are at the basis of the artistic philosophy of Àlex Mañé Montané, the whose main objective is to awaken human awareness on important and sensitive topics. Sexual freedom, human rights, gender equality, opportunities for change, interaction, communication, social networks, power control. Àlex works through a variety of media, inspired by surrealist movements, composes images from magazines, newspapers, books, postcards, posters, comics and uses this powerful artistic tool to express ideas, opinions showing constant interest in contemporary social and cultural events. In doing so, the artist provokes contrasting reactions, demonstrating that this form of art is very alive and well, but also rather controversial.

Art Curator Federica D’Avanzo

Àlex Mañé Montané

FRAGILE

Àlex Mañé Montané

NEW WORLD ORDER-EVOLUTION AND REVOLUTION

Àlex Mañé Montané

RIDING FREE LGBTI. STOP HOMOPHOBIA

Alison Aplin

Alison Aplin is an Australian painter and designer, she prefers abstract painting, through which she expresses her most intimate feelings. The exhibition “Fable” inaugurated by MADS gallery, inspired the artist in the creation of five paintings that carry inside them magic and Christmas air. In particular, the paintings entitled “Christmas baubles” and “Christmas wrapping” have the circle as the dominant element, it symbolically indicates a cycle, the cycle of life to which we are all subjected. The Christmas period indicates the beginning of a cycle, it is the celebration of birth. These two paintings are the prelude to the next three paintings: visually more joyful, colorful and charged with positive energy. In particular, in the painting “The joy of Christmas” Aplin chooses a palette of cold and warm colors that skillfully juxtaposed and create a magical effect. The rose stands out amongst all, accompanying the viewer’s gaze among other spots of color. Aplin’s way to spread the color is a reminder of the painter Henri Matisse and the Fauves artists who used bright colors to convey messages of positivity. At the end, the painting “A joyous impact” depicts, in an abstract way, an “explosion”. It seems almost a flower, now blossomed and come into the world. An “impact”, as the artist herself defines it, on the world. Every new birth involves a change to the world, every new creature will bring its own contribution to our world. Alison Aplin, with her sensitivity, once again gives MADS a journey into her own works. An abstract journey that the viewer takes in admiring her deep works.

Art Curator Giorgia Massari

Alison Aplin

A joyous impact

Alison Aplin

Christmas baubles

Alison Aplin

Christmas Cheer

Alison Aplin

Christmas Wrapping

Alison Aplin

The joy of Christmas

An Selen “Nothing is created, nothing is destroyed, all is changing.’’ (PANTA REI Eraclito, 500 b.C.) It is the principle of Buddhist philosophies by which change is accepted for what it is, not refused, but caught and translated into knowledge and beauty. These are the dynamic thoughts that overrun the An Selen canvases, artist born in Belgium, who explores her art’s passion from 1999, when she realized her first painting. On the occasion of this exhibition, the artist offers us three works which, while appearing perceptually all different from each other, are linked by an innate spiritual force. Observing her works, one is always surprised by the multisensory materiality belonging to them, which always provokes new emotions in the viewer. Vibration is the first word that comes to my mind when I look at this first work. Hidden explosion represents a careful chromatic study, result of the use of acrylic colors of various saturation, which are vibrated by archaic signs, light’s traces, symbols of a long time past. The beauty of this painting lies both in the use of warm shades and in the adoption of a purely abstract stylistic construction that, through the use of simple lines, allows us to taste a parallel universe made by memories imbued in the matter and exalted by the final use of the epoxy resin. The question of the exaltation of memory is a broadly addressed issue in the history of art. But what results in this case is the simplicity of signs used by the artist to make the matter alive. This choice reminds me the Olivestone, a work realized by Joseph Beuys who revives the memory of an old stone, used to produce oil in ancient times. The common principle of the two aesthetics brings to the surface what are the traces, thoughts and testimonies of ancient, soaked signs of disarming beauty. The purpose of this ‘’ sign resurrection ‘’ is to revive the material in order to make us participate in a process of exchange between the matter itself and the viewer who, in this time walk, becomes the witness of a new life. Like in a fable the cracks move between them, stretching and moving away, opening a passage ready to welcome our impressions, our thoughts, our souls that imprint their spirit on the matter, giving way to the infinite story. In the work Purple change we find a metamorphosis in progress that, changing its colours and shape, makes the composition’s arrangement in continuous change. The artist works in different stages, in order to respect the time of the work, indulging the evolution of the creative material process and surprising herself with the results. The artist works partly, because she leaves the compositional stage to the matter and to the time, being the main character of the creative process. The pictorial two-dimensionality is extended to the three- dimensionality surrounding environment that, according to the dynamic atmospheric changes on which the canvas stands, will produce brand-new compositional results. In this case the change is suggested by the sentence , that is written in the lower light corner of the picture: ‘’Change when it comes cracks everything open’’. Moreover, the choice of colors is really relevant; purple is the color of transformation, the color of witches’ potions, the color of religion, the color of mystery and the color of the discovery of new universes where the artist would like to lead us, passing the cracks of a surprising journey. The disarming essentiality that triggers the vision of this painting, hides a reading among the signs of time of An Selen’s spiritual thinking. The artist, born in Belgium, explores her art’s passion from 1999, when she realized her first painting. Stating that she does not consider herself categorized in any specific style, her pure and simple aesthetics remembers the poetics of Poor Art. Considering the work introduced here, we are in front of a white mantle, usually contemplated as the color of the purity of the soul, the color of chastity by the art criticism; the same purity studied by the spiritual path of the artist that focuses on the Japanese philosophy of Wabi Sabi. The delicacy of thought is very in contrast with the materiality of the cracks, that are steeped in history and in ancient memory; the same memory through which the artist tries to create a bridge that carries us to the charming past, to what the artist defines the beauty of simple time. Sailing the white mantle, there is a small red stain that stands out to the eye and that highlights that crack, regarded as an imprint of historical beauty that got lost by during the new age of consumerism.

This detail reminds me the artist Giuseppe Penone, who, in Skin of Gold on Acacia Thorns, realizes the imprints of his lips exalted by a little gold fragment placed between them, which leads us (as in the work of An Selen) to the historic time where the beauty was found in the simplicity of little things. It is the Art’s role to overcome the reality’s limits and bring the spectator into the world of imagination.

Art Curator Alessia di Martino

An Selen

Hidden explosion

An Selen

The purple change

An Selen

The secret of imperfection

Anastasia Kolosnitsyna “The laws of nature are but the mathematical thoughts of god.” (Euclid)

Anastasia Kolosnitsyna is a young artist from Krasnodar. Her multidisciplinary artistic training, allows her to express herself through very different painting styles, with influences ranging from Cubism to Hyperrealism. In the last period, her research is undergoing a change, with a language more oriented towards Surrealism. In fact, as in this work entitled “Golden language”, we see that the analysis of the subjects takes on a symbolic value.

The link with nature remains fundamental, which is shown here with an aura of mysticism. The gold color, so important within the painting, spreads radially around the subject, catapulting us into a divine world. In the center, a huge snail embraces its golden shell, observing us through a third eye suspended over its head. The snail is a recurring element in Anastasia’s paintings, a symbol of nature’s perfection, also known as the “golden spiral”. In the mathematical world it is often connected to the Fibonacci sequence and in photography it is used as a compositional method. The perfect example of the connection between Science and Nature, where the latter shows itself in the perfection of its forms. The power of the omnipresent divine, which manifests itself through the magic of Nature, observes us and protects its home as if it were our Earth.

Art Curator Francesca Brunello

Anastasia Kolosnitsyna

Golden language

Anita Aardalsbakke

In her pieces, Anita Aardalsbakke chooses to not represent anything specific, to not limit herself with the figurative, but to tap into a more universal language. Just as colours can be an universal language, so fairytales are common to all cultures across the Planet. The details may change but the tropes and the structure remain the same. Thus the abstraction of the paintings helps in conveying greater, more general themes. There is the constant, undeniable and ever-present battle between Light and Dark, Good and Evil. In Fables the distinction between them is cut clear. Fables are the place where a perfectly good hero can shine only when opposed to an equally evil villain. Fables are not the place for a middle ground or modern grey characters. It is the reign of Absolute and the Evil will always be defeated.The dichotomy does not stop at good vs evil. In the artist’s words Love againstHhate is too great of an importance. In fables Love wins, it wins over everything. Often it is romantic love - the true love kiss, that breaks the curse - but it can also be familial love, the bond between brothers, or even the love of God. From their titles, these three pieces could almost be put one after the other and represent the three main activities of a fairytale. First, there is the darkness, the rupture, the storm. Many fairytales begin in a place of suffering; the princess cursed by the witch, the poor family who cannot support themselves, the girl reduced to a servant. Then the central piece is always the battle, the confrontation between the Good and the Evil, with the consequent victory of light. Finally, the happy ending and the happily ever after.

It is evening and all is set, the hero can rest.

Art Curator Guendalina Cilli

Anita Aardalsbakke

The power of light

Anita Aardalsbakke

Evening hug

Anita Aardalsbakke

Autumn storm

Anna Sophia Rydgren ARYART

Anna Sophia Rydgren’s work presented at the exhibition “Fable” has all the enthusiasm and love for the subject represented: in “Blue Peacock” an intense artist emotion stands out, with the representation of this animal so magical and mysterious. Being a memory of her childhood, Anna Sophia is inextricably close to the depiction of the peacock: the shape and colors of the bird fill the soul with joy and its symbolic meaning gives harmony to the various elements of the universe. Since ancient times, the peacock has symbolized longevity, spring and rebirth. Its wide, glittering tail, defined as the “hundred eyes”, is the emblem of the sunlight emerging from the darkness like a fan. According to legend, its thick plumage covered by iridescent colors was able to expand itself to the extent to transform the venom of a snake into solar substance, while its eyes were considered a symbol of God’s omniscience. In fact, in this painting the artist is inspired by the peacock’s eye, emphasizing both the desire to imprint a precious gift of nature and the love for art. The essence of the material emerges from the canvas, an immense expanse that follows the shades and the swaying of the sea. From the ripples one can glimpse precious shades, such as bronze and gold, suitable for such a royal animal.

Moreover, an immense blue expanse blends perfectly with the glacial white, creating an ocean like a parallel universe, where the peacock is its king. Every tonality is so vivid and penetrating that it involves anyone who observes the work.

And as in the constellations, this three-dimensional space is made up of numerous details, a multitude of hidden cracks that emphasize those brilliant shades. Eternal beauty resides in one’s soul and the peacock, symbol of positive change, helps the viewer to illuminate his path, surrounded by shadows, and to radiate the surrounding atmosphere. This bird merges with the pictorial material, by creating an interweaving between art and the evolutionary power of the forces of nature, which finds representation in this chromatic expanse. The observer needs to immerse himself completely in Anna Sophia’s work and let himself go, so that he can begin a journey into his own introspection and deepest emotions.

Art Curator Alessia Perone

Anna Sophia Rydgren ARYART

Blue Peacock

Anne Grete Kjøsterud Tolo

Rooted for years in figurative art, Norwegian artist Anne Grete Kjøsterud Tolo delights herself in abstract art as well, where the act of creating spontaneously becomes the key to shape her artistic sensibility and artistic language of expression. “To me painting abstract images became object of great interest and joy” states the artist. The title Forhekset (Enchanted), brings us into the artist’s creation whose aim is to challenge and provoke the audience’s fantasy in imaging an exciting story behind it. The artwork’s subject recalls the typical semblance of the women of the classical age and ancient tales, or some feminine figures related to myths and legends.

In fact, the represented woman has the appearance of an idyllic creature, like an immortal nymph, born and transformed into a natural creature. Anne Grete makes her woman emerging from the canvas by using different techniques and materials, including Powertex, with which is able to create an extra surface similar to rocks or cave stones or even a tree bark. Just like a mythological figure, the painting’s subject is almost blurry, depicted with an barely hinted body able to evoke a strong visual power and to leave space to imagination. Therefore, the woman could be anything: a mermaid, a fairy, a goddess, a witch or just a woman. The artist, while finding a way to freely express, recognize and reveal herself, offers to the audience an opportunity to challenge their intuition and personal suggestions.

Art Curator Ylenia De Giosa

Anne Grete Kjøsterud Tolo

Forhekset

Anne-Sophie Brilland “Art does not render what is visible, but renders visible.” (Paul Klee) Anne Sophie Brilland is a plastic arts teacher and graduated from the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Angers in France where she now lives and works in Bruz.Her art is a fusion of multisensory scenes that takes place through the study of the aurora portraits, of the abstract and figurative landscape, connecting with a bond that connects to an interior landscape by interlinking with natural elements.Anne’s investigation can be defined in a general way as a “manifestation of the spiritual connection between human beings and the environment”.

Through the research of the female body, she explores its anatomy going from the inside out, revealing the interdependence between each cell.From muse, angelic presence or temptress, to mysterious entity that wonders about its own identity, to the new figure born from the protest of the sixties, the woman is constantly represented in the balance between her being at the same time a gentle nymph and a cruel seductress , savior or incarnate damnation, eternal source of a chthonic or celestial force, of which art has always been a vivid witness.It is a pure description of beauty.Over the centuries the woman’s body has been a symbol of beauty and desire, now an emblem of sin, but its mysterious creative force has continued to represent a fulcrum of interest in society and in the culture of all times which, sometimes, it has been recognized and admired for its incredible generating energy, at other times its power has been seen as a source of disturbance.Through her works we can see a vortex of movement, it’s the dance of life, showing in a disenchanted way the most external aspects and underlining that even dance can simulate a stage of life where men show masks that they’re forced to wear in a false and hypocritical society.The communion between movement and the use of colors generates wonderful figures as if they were a physical shell of an idea.The narrative aspect of his series is very strong and it is possible to get lost in imagining endless stories and then find yourself floating in the artist’s mind.

Art Curator Erika Gravante

Anne-Sophie Brilland

SeĚ rie passage 1

Anne-Sophie Brilland

SeĚ rie passage 2

Anne-Sophie Brilland

SeĚ rie passage 3

Anne-Sophie Brilland

SeĚ rie passage 4

Anne-Sophie Brilland

SeĚ rie passage 5

Aránzazu Ulrich

Aránzazu Ulrich, is a self-taught artist, who became alone, with the clear intention of communicating and expressing to the rest of the world the values and experiences of life through any artistic means, already existing, pictorial or literary. Her hand painting, with bird imitations, is very significant. These animals have always been envied for their ability to fly, whose image has in the past been a source of study or inspiration for artists from around the world. Through their representation, ideal or not, one can transmit a feeling, an emotion. The artist, in fact, through the representation of her hands symbolizes wings, whose image is psychically linked to a feeling of freedom and immense space; through which you feel immersed in the intimacy of life. The artist in her works makes a journey within herself to understand the meaning of her existence. She goes from the simple observation of everything that surrounds her to get to understand her deepest nature as a living being. She flies free like a dreamer to find a balance between what she is experiencing and the need for lightness, she walks on earth but rises in the sky. Motherhood and the nest are two fundamental elements for Aránzazu, since ideally the house is certainly the greatest dream of any living being. A significant, sometimes spectacular space that means family. As well as man, whose imagination we know well, even animals, especially birds, are able to build wonderful nests, dwellings that seem almost castles, for harmony, grace and fantasy. This similarity, therefore, between the arguments of his art is not a coincidence but well symbolizes an indestructible rouge file, that of the life in which you are born, you grow and you take flight and then always return to our dearest affections. His painting is stylistically charged by bright colors and well-defined contours as if to emphasize the very meaning of his subjects, able to convey the very strong meaning that binds them together.

Art Curator Federica D’Avanzo

AraĚ nzazu Ulrich

Prisoner of your destiny

AraĚ nzazu Ulrich

The home

AraĚ nzazu Ulrich

The maternity

Asuka Ripple

The year 1923 was running and Marc Chagall was at the peak of his success: his paintings, with a fairy-tale and unique style, were sought after and appreciated by critics. Vollard, a forward-looking publisher with a very fine taste, commissioned him to illustrate the printed text of Gogol’s stories. Animated by the enthusiasm that characterized his personality, Chagall threw himself headlong into the enterprise and, just completed the work, received a new commission: illustrate the fairy tales of La Fontaine. Thus, the black and white of Dorè’s lithographs were combined with the colorful and dreamlike achievements of Chagall, the only artist who, according to Vollard, was able to synthesize the work of La Fontaine and give a less literal interpretation. The fairy tales of La Fontaine are the result of the great engraving technique with which Chagall wanted to represent those “always green” fairy tales written in the seventeenth century. Fairy tales can be told, read by many books but also observed. The characters of fairy tales have always fascinated young and old. Everyone loves them and thinking of them, they go back in time to feel like children. Apparently not even artists are immune to the charm of fairy tales and fairy tales, inspired by the magical world of fantasy. Asuka Ripple, a Japanese artist with a romantic soul, is carried away by the whisper of the stars, from which her work takes its name. A work of enchanted magic takes shape from the innermost part of the artist’s soul, when she was a child. In this work Asuka wanted to nicely embody the fairy tale, as imagined and cultivated since childhood. For her, painting and experimenting with the spray art technique is always a challenge and her works contain many metaphors; the fairy tale is her starting point. A game made of reality and fantasy, two worlds that intersect and try to live together.

Art Curator Federica D’Avanzo

Asuka Ripple

The Whispers of the Stars

Audrey Y. Kao

In a Murakami novel, unicorns were the keepers of dreams and memories, Audrey’s work somehow keeps the freedom to dream, to love and to express oneself guarded. The unicorn in medieval symbolism has very important meanings, sometimes it was a representation of the Virgin, other times of the Word of God, in courtly literature it was a hunter who could only be charmed by the love of a girl. In common culture, it is easy to associate the unicorn with the fairy-tale world, the surreal and the magical. In Audrey’s work, the animal is there, it appears as if waiting, it seems that it asks the viewer to follow it, to let themselves be guided on a fantastic journey. To separate the animal from the figures in the foreground there is a tree, half tree and half rose, the latter is a symbol of admiration, devotion and love that wins over everything. The work, leaving room for the imagination, however, manages to fix very specific pivotal points, which the artist translates into symbols, nothing is left to chance, each element has a precise value and meaning, only attentive and curious eyes can see its truth. If in the foreground there is a clear reference and a true homage to Botticelli and his famous work “The Birth of Venus”, what appears evident in this case too is the meaning that this figure possesses, namely purity, beauty and simplicity. Encountering Audrey’s work means getting lost, letting oneself be carried away by imagination and emotions, following instincts and rediscovering memories, not only that, her work becomes a new type of communication, a fairytale symbolism through which we can learn and in some way, to dream. The work refers to the works of the great masters of surrealism, it seems to be in a dream, like the surrealist artists, she forces us to go beyond what the eye sees, she pushes us to look at a different reality, which it exists in a universe that cannot be touched. Audrey gives us the great gift of imagination and freedom, she leaves us free to imagine a different world, a reality that lies beyond that door at the back of the work, that’s where the unicorn comes from. Each of us, in some way, and at different doses, needs fantasy and magic.

“Reason is nothing without imagination.” (Descartes)

Art Curator Vanessa Viti

Audrey Y. Kao

Origin

Aurore Chesseret “The forest is a peculiar organism of unlimited kindness and benevolence that makes no demands for its sustenance and generously gives the products of its life and activity; it offers protection to all beings.” (Buddha) Aurore Chesseret is an artist with a great passion for the beauty of the surrounding environment, which attracts and transports her in the creation of compositions with a naturalistic theme, through which life and energy emerge from the work itself. Even if her artistic conception is based on the scanning of space, landscapes and perspectives, the artist manages to implement these aspects with her own emotions, sensations, gestures and her great creative impulse. In fact, as in the work presented at the exhibition “Fable”, in “Enchanted Forest” both the constructive element of the painting and the typically sensitive one stand out. Forests have always been places of enchantment, magic and mystery, where extraordinary events and encounters with any imaginary species occur: every object or living being comes to life. The evolution of nature plays a fundamental role because according to its vision, as it embodies that primordial aspect in the appearance in the world of humanity. Through this painting, Aurore opens the doors to a fantastic world, where the forest can be a place of leisure, adventure or the seat of the supernatural. The abstract and surreal style is emphasized by the use of such brilliant shades that give brightness to the whole natural foliage, penetrating the two-dimensional space and helping the user to have a magical and unique experience. Aurore simulates long, full-bodied and swirling brushstrokes, especially in the central part and, by overlapping one above other, giving a very solid and dynamic look, by providing an architectural structure that defines the canvas. Their movement are made from the bottom-up or vice versa, as if they wanted to create a link between the earth and the celestial, the physical and the spiritual, the darkness and the light, until they reach the universe. The artist invites the observer to free himself from the worries of the mind, hoping for a flourishing and prosperous life where imagination is the so-called “keystone”, that essential element that unleashes dreams making them infinite.

“Ancestral feelings and personal moods awaken before nature. We see something of ourselves and in this sense, even this world is a representation of ourselves.” (Friedrich Nietzsche)

Art Curator Alessia Perone

Aurore Chesseret

Enchanted Forest

Ayane Kurai “To display life, and to develop a Big heart are the most important techniques and goals for me. I believe that my paintings follow me and grow with me… just because painting is the voice of my soul.” (Ayane Kurai)

Colour as full, manifest, pervasive matter. Bold pigments, intense witnesses layer after layer, of the tangible proof of the elements and things that populate the world. Coating upon coating, memory upon memory, sensation upon sensation. A painting that has the faculty to summarize in itself and in its genesis the body and soul of Ayane Kurai and the reality that surrounds it. Stains of colours that can be traced back to the aroma of a steaming cup of coffee, abstract forms that sing a multi-instrumental melody, rarefied and light backgrounds like the invisible. Ayane’s creative process originates in pure experience, understood as the succession of moments, emotions and situations that constantly animate the experience. The elements of reality and the sensations of the soul, subjected to a vigorous decanting process, are reduced to their purest essence, losing any form that can be traced back to everyday life. A catharsis process is then applied to the tangible element. This purifies itself from the inessential, disintegrates its tangible physiognomy and regenerates itself with new morphology in the condensed and inseparable reality of abstract painting.

Ayane Kurai

The stain of colour becomes pure unity, it is the essence of sensorial perceptions, of emotions, of daily life. On the canvas the oil colour, the medium and driving force of this process of reduction, is then applied scraped, lifted and still stretched in a sequence of actions to dirty the white, immaculate canvas. The candid and uncorrupted space of the support, compromised by the exuberant force of the colour, becomes stained and forcibly enters into a relationship with the world of the tangible and of experience. The canvas loses its initial virgin purity and, in a relationship of interdependence, acquires the original scents, tastes, thoughts and sensations of the real dimension, of the world known to us. Fables tell stories of animals, plants and objects marked by a peculiar development of the characters. The latter behave like human beings, they are characterized by our merits and defects. These short stories have the ability to enclose within themselves the archetypal behaviours, languages and modes of thought of humanity. Ayane Kurai’s work, with its process of distillation and catharsis operated on the visible, therefore behaves like a fairytale: his patches of colour scraped, spatulate and layered on the canvas tell a reality reduced to a minimum, distilled and extolled to bring to the surface the purest and most indivisible essence of vital experience.

Art Curator Lisa Galletti

Ayane Kurai

Landscape in a Dream

Ayane Kurai

To Live

Ayse Doler

Ayse Doler, a Turkish artist, started painting at young age while she attended her Medical PhD. Despite the work she continues to paint. In 2005 she decided to quit her job to devote herself completely to her career as an artist.

The miniature course, that she attends during the University, leaves a great imprint on her: her works are in fact rich in small details carefully cared for. What is striking is the care for details and bright colors. Doler’s works are a modern interpretation of the Ottoman miniature. With the same technique, the artist creates subjects from her dreams using bright colors reminiscent of the psychedelic artists of the ‘60s. She presents at MADS Milano art gallery the work intitled “Sorrow of angel”, where the amount of detail is amazing. The work is formed by a large number of different types of colored flowers in which above all stand out the figures of two angels, positioned in the center of the composition. The title clearly illustrates the pain of the angels, expressed by their position: both of them cover their faces that are probably in tears. The attention to detail is surprising: angels’ wings, pink and blue respectively, are made feather for feather despite their reduced size. The element that is visually separated from the rest is the tree on the right, in the foreground, which stands out for its size and for the colors less bright than the rest. It’s a dead tree, with no branches and no leaves, and it’s probably the cause of the pain of the two angels. The message behind this apparently distant work from reality is probably to be interpreted as a cry for help from nature and from the creatures that inhabit it: the world, nature and the animals that inhabit it are suffering because of human actions. Pollution and indifference to this issue are leading the world to drift. The time has come to act and to preserve what we have left.

Art Curator Giorgia Massari

Ayse Doler

Sorrow of angel

Bec Joannou “Some journeys take you far from home, when you close your eyes in stillness… and Daydream.”

(Bec Joannou) Storybooks are small magical caskets which, once opened, shine with a thousand colors and ignite the imagination of children. While their mother sits next to them on the bed, reading about distant worlds, their mind leaves reality, accompanied in dreams by a fairy trail. Looking at Bec’s art, we can’t do anything else, except let ourselves be captured, even us adults, by her world. The sweetness that comes from her images, brings our mind back to the past, awakening that child side, made of love and infinite fantasizing. Each of her works is a book to read. The careful attention to every detail allows our eyes to get lost in the stories of this distant world, which Bec calls Swevenia. A world inhabited by extravagant animals, who live in situations of a peaceful everyday life, where a sense of mutual protection and care hovers. In “Nightfall”, Queen Raven sits asleep with a candle in her hand, while Freyja, the fox friend, controls the little ones, who sleep safely, under the Little Prince’s book, which is open to form a hut. The connection with the natural world is important. In fact, for the protagonists, Bec is inspired by existing animals such as the crow, the fox, the cat, the armadillo, the magpie goose and many others.

The same is for the places where her stories are set, in the woods, in caves or inside tiny houses, where wood is a fundamental element, both for furnishings and for heating the home. A world that each of us can explore at any time by simply closing our eyes. This is what Bec does. Every time she wants to embark on a new journey, she abandons herself to the imagination. She returns with her mind to Swevenia, letting herself be lulled by the fantasy of this fairy world, where peace and serenity reign, intimating us to do the same. She pushes us to travel with the mind, reminding us of the beauty of childhood, creativity and the liberating power of the imagination.

Art Curator Francesca Brunello

Bec Joannou

Baking Day at Jeremy’s

Bec Joannou

Contemplation at Breakfast Time

Bec Joannou

Corbin’s Christmas Wish

Bec Joannou

Hush Baby

Bec Joannou

Nightfall

Belle Roth ‘We are the enigma that no one can decipher. We are the story enclosed in its own image. We are what keeps moving forward without ever getting to understand’’ (Jostein Gaarder) Artist born in the Philippine Islands, Bella Roth presents Singapore AM 1.3, a multisensory work that transports us to another universe, parallel to the one in which we find ourselves. The strong and bright colors, typical of abstract expressionism, are the bearers of a clear and decisive message that wants to attract the viewer’s attention.

With a strong abstract influence, the artist interacts with the material in a functional way, creating a chromatic map with a free pattern, which reflects the values of her thought with simplicity and determination, linked for example to the defense of social equality and respect. The essential taste and the material presence of her works refer in part to the works of Jackson Pollock, father of abstract expressionism and of action painting. The sense of freedom and expressiveness present in Pollock’s works undergo a change in this case. The interpretation that the artist makes of it is a socially enganged reading, impregnated with those nuances and social beliefs that still characterize many international countries in today’s reality. By carefully observing the work, we understand how the painting consists of a triple scheme of chromatic coverage, in which we see on the first surface some bright spots of color with an expressionist taste. On the second surface a more rigid constructive scheme, created by the red pictorial material which is juxtaposed in an absolutely rational way, as if it respected an urban architecture. So far it is clear the artist’s intention of wanting to express a condition of restriction, compression, social regulation given by the red color that, impetuous, imprisons the chromatic vastness of the foreground.

Finally, the composition converges in the artist’s signature, a blue spot which, as in the most beautiful fairy tales, is the brave protagonist outside the box.

Art Curator Alessia di Martino

Belle Roth

SINGAPORE AM 1.3

Carolina Chang “Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher.” (William Wordsworth)

What is Nature? The word “nature” has its origins in both Latin and Greek languages. Either way, its meaning refers to life in its becoming: being born, growing and dying. This word encompasses the concept of a reality that is not static but constantly changing. There is no beginning or end, everything is connected in a continuous flow. In “Symbiosis” by Carolina Chang, this union between Man and Nature is expressed in an overbearing way. A bright red dominates the background, enhancing the acid greens used to describe the flowers. A figure from behind seems to be enchanted by the sight of so much beauty, allowing herself to be absorbed by a huge plant, which almost swallows her. The whole is narrated by the artist, in a psychedelic language, made up of fields of color, which contrast with thin black lines. Carolina alters reality, triggering in the observer contrasting sensations, where restlessness and wonder meet. Suddenly we find ourselves at the mercy of distressing but fascinating shapes that move unpredictably. The energy of Nature, is expressed here in all its strength and beauty. In a cycle of constant change, it gives us life, grows us, and then, finally, takes us away with her.

Art Curator Francesca Brunello

Carolina ChangÂ

Simbiosis

Catherine Paridans “I shut my eyes in order to see.” (Paul Gauguin) The Belgian artist Catherine Paridans to create her works full of imagination and colors, as the famous French painter says, closes her eyes and lets her imagination wander. Looking at her paintings it seems to immerse yourself in a fairy tale in which the landscapes are wrapped in a magical atmosphere and the characters seem to want to tell us their story. In “Femme et flamant rose” the protagonists are, as the title itself says, a young woman in profile while touching her sleek hair and to her left, the flamingo. The animal, in all its splendor, turns its body towards her, lowering his gaze to the ground. The light and dark colors create a perfect chromatic balance: various shades of pink, purple and blue blend in harmony with each other. In the work “Homme-Lion” the only subject is the protagonist placed in the center who occupies the entire canvas. The blue magnetic eyes that stare at us and his folded arms make us feel that the man is watching us with a spirit of observation and that perhaps he is waiting for our opinion. Maybe a consideration about the end of the story of which he is the protagonist?

The voluminous mane in warm colors is created through thick curved brushstrokes and envelops the man who is wearing a rainbow-colored shirt. In “Le Printemps”, the season from which the work takes its title is perfectly described: large trees that begin to fill with beautiful flowers that color nature. The atmosphere is precisely the classic of fairy tales in which the forest is one of the miraculous environments in which magic happens. The Belgian artist with her works wants to communicate the strong emotions she herself feels when the fantasy leads her to create what can be defined as true masterpieces. Catherine teaches us that nothing like imagination can save us from the reality that often torments us: dreaming, fantasizing, this is the key to happiness.

Art Curator Camilla Gilardi

Catherine Paridans

Le Printemps

Catherine Paridans

Homme-Lion

Catherine Paridans

Femme et flamant rose

Christine Roeloffzen “Our task must be to free ourselves... by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and it’s beauty.” (Albert Einstein)

Christine’s language leads our minds back to a distant world, where Man and Nature once lived in symbiosis. A journey towards our origins, in the memory of a past that is now so distant and almost forgotten. Pastel-colored brushstrokes move sinuously on the canvas, filling it with flowers and female figures, dancing serenely twirling.

They look like fairies, legendary creatures, that in the common imagination populate the woods. They are the spirits of Nature and, directly connected to it, feed on its energy. One of them surrenders completely to a kiss from a large plant, which approaches her by brushing her lips. From above, a flow of sap feeds them, while they let themselves be carried away, savoring with closed eyes the sweetness of nature that cradles them. Sensations of perfume and freshness spread in the air, giving our mood an inner peace. Art is an outlet for the imagination, but also a tool for investigating the human soul and awakening its memory. Christine’s art rediscovers the important connection with Nature, from which man has distanced himself over time. Not forgetting means remembering who we are, but above all it means finding the main source of our vital energy.

Art Curator Francesca Brunello

Christine Roeloffzen

Unity in connectedness

Christopher Rozitis

Fairy tales are fantasy tales full of mystery and enchantment, rich in the most extraordinary adventures, in which primitive beliefs linked to magic survive; in them nature comes alive with magical presences that do not hesitate to reveal themselves to men: fairies, gnomes, goblins that populate the forests, or witches and orcs who live in solitary homes, often on the edge of a forest, or in imposing castles that inspire fear. If there is one genre that has managed to capture the imagination of people of all social backgrounds, this is the fairy tale, and yet folklore scholars continue to encounter great difficulties when they try to explain its historical origins, the evolution, the diffusion and the reason why we are attracted by its charm, whatever form it takes. From the 19th century until the 1970s, visual artists generally celebrated the extraordinary optimism of fairy tales through various works: paintings, sculptures, illustrations, photographs, cartoons and films. Christopher Rozitis, for the realization of his two works, was inspired by two fairy tales that enchanted children all over the world: “The little mermaid”

by Hans Christian Anderson and “Little Red Riding Hood” by the Brothers Grimm. In the common imagination, both fairy tales conceal extremely dark meanings and morals for both children and adults.

Christopher Rozitis

His vision in “Bad Wolf” and “Mermaids fairies” does not merely interpret or portray the fairy tale texts as enchanted places, of dreams, which attract the eye and invite it to bask in an idyllic environment or which distract the observer from the negativity of the everyday world, on the contrary it approaches the usual topics of the fairy tale assuming a critical perspective, Intent on upsetting the beholder and reminding him that the world is “out of hinges” and that fairy tales offer no alternative to the gloomy reality. Paradoxically, in order to save the core of hope inherent in the fairy tale, Christopher has chosen to strip the latter of beautiful princesses and heroes, as well as reassuring scenes that deceive the viewer, endowing it with different meanings through despotic figurations, grotesque, macabre or comic. This aspect appears accentuated by the use of quotations from the fairy tale itself that the artist used to show the hidden connections and encourage the viewer to move away from the story for children and to explore the dark themes for adults told by the original novel.

Art Curator Federica D’Avanzo

Christopher Rozitis

Bad Wolf

Christopher Rozitis

Mermaids fate

Cicilie Svanem

Cicilie Svanem is self-taught artist born and based in Trondheim, Norway. She mainly uses acrylic and oil to paint her abstract and figurative paintings. She takes inspirations from nature, music and people that she meets in her daily life. On the occasion of the exhibition “Fable” organized by MADS Milano art gallery, Svanem presents her painting entitled “Butterfly Woman”. Her pictorial abilities meet in this painting, in which emerges her propensity for Abstract and for figurative. In fact, the painting represents a woman from behind, whose naked body is colored blue, color that transmits calm and self-confidence. This feeling is more accentuated by her wings, ready to open to face a change. The wings, as well as the background, are rendered in an abstract way, created mostly by spots of color, recalling the style of the Informal artists of the 50’s. To create this effect, the artist creates many layers of acrylic paint through the use of a brush and a knife. After a second careful look at the canvas, you can see that the woman is walking on a walkway surrounded by people who look at her. The heads of the people mingle between the spots of the wings, remaining therefore marginal, almost imperceptible.

This detail sends a message to the viewer: do what you love, show others your strength and beauty without caring about their judgment. On the other hand, the painting conceals within itself a message of emancipation, the rebirth of a woman who opens her wings and is not afraid to show herself for what is in the world, naked and beautiful.

Art Curator Giorgia Massari

Cicilie Svanem

Butterfly Woman

Claudia Werth

The introduction of the deities within the paintings of an allegorical contemplative was very popular in Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, between Baroque, Rococo and Flemish Classicism, as evidenced by an oil on canvas by Rubens located in the Louvre, composed between 1622 and 1625, on commission of Maria de Medici, Queen of France. The presence of classical deities is thus configured not only as a recurrent motif of the artistic production of the time, but also as a subject usually employed in various fields. A story that sees its preambles in the mythological roots that of the goddess who becomes the protagonist of art works. A prominent position is definitely covered by iconographic motifs related to the figure of Venus. The goddess of beauty and love, central figure of famous masterpieces, such as the work of Sandro Botticelli. The same Venus that Apuleius calls Psyche in his “Metamorphosis” from which the fabula with the God Love is born. “The Goddess” by Claudia Werth synthesizes in its forms all the beauty and elegance of Venus, whose depth is rendered by the use of colors such as blue hair and gold to highlight the fleshy mouth and facial features. The look is chilling and seems to look straight into the eyes of the observer, almost bewitching him with his ethereal beauty.The main reason that made gold precious in the eyes of man is undoubtedly its color: glorious, shining and yellow as the sun. Since prehistoric times the star was a symbol of the main deities and to it were given cults of great importance recognizing in this the first source of life. Whenever one wanted to recall, through art, the divinity, often gold was used in figuration. Gustav Klimt made sure to make the latter protagonist, as a matter capable of transfiguring and making eternal the real.

Art Curator Federica D’Avanzo

Claudia Werth

The Goddess

Colleen Gianatiempo “Color is a means of exercising a direct influence on the soul. The color is a button, the eye the hammer that strikes it, the soul and instrument with a thousand strings.” (Vasilij Kandinskij)

Colleen Gianatiempo is an artist with a great passion for nature. Through her abstract language, composed of vivid shades and numerous textures, she interprets everything that the natural environment can offer her. She wants to highlight the complexity of the material, all the layers that are mixed to create a unique and unprecedented work of art. Her works express new concepts through the recombination of shapes, colors and lines, evoking sensations and emotions, leaving to the imagination an ample space to represent reality at its best. The expression of a strong and bursting feeling is internalized by the artist, reworking it with gestures that mark the entire work. The emotion of the moment is expressed with movement and color. Almost a primordial communication that seeks a way out in new and contemporary language. Just as in “Ebb Tide”, the artist proposes a different look through a symbolic style, capable of opening the mind to every imaginable horizon. An artistic conception which enables to undermine common believes to express universal elements, in a way to bring together different worlds and parallel universes. From the painting emerges a rational perfection and harmony that completely mark the observer’s works understanding. The work appears dynamic and every aspect comes to life from a visual and perceptive sides. The viewer is involved entirely within the canvas, in a visual, emotional, tactile and physical experience. A representation of inner and irrational energies that burst into the spectator’s soul arise. From this sensory perception begins the process that leads to the symbolic elaboration of the meaning of the work.

Art Curator Alessia Perone

Colleen Gianatiempo

Ebb Tide

Cosima Becker

“Look into the colors and feel the power that pulls you up again from the depths of grief. Go astray and feel the power of things that take you into the world of fantasy”. With this phrase the German artist Cosima Becker interprets her work entitled “Unknown World”. The artist wants to push viewers out of the path, out of the box to find their fantasy. Without a doubt, Becker uses this fantasy and builds onto canvas a colorful and magical world. The vertical composition allows observers to follow a visual path that starts from the bottom to go up the entire canvas. In this sense, the artist approaches the teachings of the artist Paul Klee, who uses multiple colors to force the observers to continuously move their gaze on the canvas. Becker therefore visually builds a network of roads, enabling viewers to freely choose the visual path to follow. Viewers have the freedom to lose themselves between the colors and textures that make up the work, arriving at a personal conclusion. In “Unknown world” yellow is the background to a variety of colors: blue, orange, green and red, all rendered in bright tones, thus giving vivacity and dynamism to the canvas. On the other hand, however, the artist inserts black lines that darken the composition, letting you glimpse how in every fairy tale evil is present.

Art Curator Giorgia Massari

Cosima Becker

Unknown world

Damien Dombre “Nature, like a loving mother, is ever trying to keep land and sea, mountain and valley, each in its place, to hush the angry winds and waves, balance the extremes of heat and cold, of rain and drought, that peace, harmony and beauty may reign supreme.” (Elizabeth Cady Stanton)

French artist Damien Dombre is a truly novice in the painting’s realm: he started to delight himself with the artistic language last summer, sharing the passion with his daughters. His creative baptism succeeds to be very powerful and suggestive. “Fable of the land and the sea” is a captivating journey through two delicate waves of complementary vibrations: cold and warm. The fluid technique adopted by the artist pours on the canvas evoking a dialogue made of colourful contrast able at the same time to gently harmonize the two opposing chromatic forces. The artwork seems to be a proper abstract representation of the two vital elements of earth: the blue and immense sea and the yellowish and solid land. And it is exactly this complementary encounter - that does not contaminate the two parts - that has the strength and the magic to evoke a narration, a fable, a sense of magnificence. Land and sea are here represented by Damien as two propulsive and multifaceted energies, that reveal and offer multiple layers of fruition for the viewers.

Art Curator Cecilia Terenzoni

Damien Dombre

Fable of the land and the sea

Elena Chatokhina

Elena Chatokhina is a Russian artist, currently lives in Canada in the city of Montreal. Her main artistic purpose is to bring back to life, through modernity, the traditional Russian art called “Khokhloma”. This is the name of a Russian wood painting handicraft style and national ornament, known for its curved and vivid mostly flower, berry and leaf patterns. The artist represents on canvas the motifs and colours of this painting, using a mixed technique: golden leaf, ink, acrylics, crackling paste, sand and oil. Chatokhina presents at the MADS Milano art gallery one of her paintings belonging to the series “From Traditional to Modern”, a series created during the most tragic period of her life. Elena’s children are in fact kidnapped and the pain and despair finds refuge only within the art, which becomes for her a means of venting her negative emotions. Within the work entitled “Rusted Khokhloma” emerge symbols of hope, a feeling that never leaves the artist: a small blue butterfly stands out on the black background and an ornament of gold flower gives shine to the canvas, triggering feelings of resistance and persistence. Despair and pain emerge from the black background, rendered in a material way following the teachings of Informal Italian artists, in particular Alberto Burri’s. Chatokhina makes rough backgrounds in relief, that transmit the pain and hatred that affects society. But all this is filled with a message of hope and light.

Elena Chatokhina through her art brings to light a past tradition of her country, making it personal and modern.

As it is done for the fables handed down orally over the centuries, Chatokhina contributed to not let the folk traditions die, giving new life to what many people considered outdated and ancient.

Art Curator Giorgia Massari

Elena Chatokhina

Rusted Khokhloma

Étienne Rousseau “Revolution is the harmony of form and color and everything exists, and moves, under only one law: Life.” (Frida Khalo) Canadian artist Étienne Rousseau creates abstract canvases in which color and line represent the mirror of his deep inner world. “Don’t Leave Home”, a 2020 work made with the technique acrylic & mixed media on canvas, fascinates with its brightness and its strong evocative power. Although the composition is characterized by the presence of curved and soft lines, it is a work with great expressiveness and character. What we see is the result of a performative process of the artist’s body through which he manages to make the movement and speed of creation visible. The work, built without a pre-established plan, is made up of random and undefined forms. The pink, brighter in certain points than the others, contrasts with the black of the lines, at times faded, creating an impacting, but at the same time harmonious chromatic effect. For Étienne, therefore, lines and color are not only the means he uses to give birth to his creations, but they represent real metaphors of his sensations. Thin and thicker lines, light and dark tonalities, defined colors, and shades: “Don’t Leave Home” is a work characterized by contrasts that trigger multiple reactions in us, what Étienne defines as “special tensions”. During the making of the canvas, the artist selects a different song each time that reflects his mood of that moment and listens to it in a loop throughout the creation process. In this case, the involving and exciting soundtrack chosen was the inspiration for the title of the work: Don’t Leave Home, by singer Dido. The fascinating works of the young artist transport us into a magical world full of energy in which each of us, through an inner journey, can review a part of himself and of his own experience.

Art Curator Camilla Gilardi

Étienne Rousseau

Don’t Leave Home

Eva Kjøl Slind

Eva Kjøl Slin is a Norwegian painter whose passion for art has always been with her since a young age. The painting ‘Mystery Forest’ is able to directly put in contact the viewer with the very intimate artistic dimension of the artist. In fact to Eva ‘[..] painting is a place where she forgets time and place. She loves nature, peace and love, and hopes that her paintings will give people a peace of mind’. The artwork represents a view on a natural landscape, perhaps a Norwegian forest, perhaps dear to the artist’s sensibility. A view that may recall a precious sense of belonging with her land, with her roots. At the same time the artist, almost tenderly jealous to let the viewer identifying the represented place, paints ‘Mystery forest’ with a mystifying and enigmatic aura. The artificial yellowish/greenish sky colour evokes a sunrise that irradiates the dark and dense forest. A lake reflects and embraces once again the dark tones of the forest’s trees offering to the viewers a pure sublime vision of natural harmony. An honest natural representation, full of ecstatic and bright colours but also full of mysterious and cryptic elements. The piece created by the intimate artist’s gaze gives back to the audience a pure calming and almost nostalgic experience, as if we had all witnessed to the same spectacle and we would all wish to come back there.

Art Curator Cecilia Terenzoni

Eva Kjøl Slind

Mystery forest

Fatima Bush

Mexican artist Fatima Bush presents at MADS Milano art gallery two works which are closed connected with the theme of the exhibition “Fable”. The artist’s technique recalls the world of fairy tales, managing through simple figures to reach child’s soul within us. Behind these apparently simple and colourful works, lie important messages that the artist chooses to represent through animals. The connection with the satirical works of the Japanese artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi is inevitable. Like Kuniyoshi, Bush uses animals as a vehicle to report human behavior. The first work analyzed here is entitled “Objecto de burla”, which means “target of mockery”.

The work represents a stork, the one who brings life into the fairy-tale imagination, who captures a fox in a jar.

The fox represents the evil, the lightness with which people make fun of others, regardless of the effects that this may have on life. The stork therefore embodies the good, the desire to stop these acts of derision that often cause strong repercussions to those who suffer them.

Fatima Bush

The choice to create a dark background leads the observer to focus on the subjects and thus imagine a story.

The second work, entitled “Pastor de mentiras”, refers to a deeper concept, alluding to today’s society. The work represents a man’s body with a wolf’s face. The wolf is always the villain in every story, just think of the fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood” or the “Three Little Pigs”, so this anthropomorphic figure embodies the evil that is rooted in every society. Inside the stomach of this figure are trapped colored sheep and on the left is the shepherd, desperate to have lost his flock. The sheep symbolize society, which sometimes finds itself subject to the dictates of a corrupt government, but often chooses and accepts all this without doing anything. Bush sends strong messages through simple and linear representations that, as in admiring Surrealist paintings, leave you speechless.

Art Curator Giorgia Massari

Fatima Bush

Pastor de mentiras

Fatima Bush

Objeto de burla

Fransie Malherbe Frandsen “We don’t so much get to choose our subjects as our obsessions choose us.” (John Irving) Fransie Malherbe Frandsen was born in South Africa. After studying art and graphic design in Denmark and the United Kingdom, she completed a post-graduate in Art Pshycotherapy, a sector in which she operated for several years. She currently lives and paints from her studio in Geneva, Switzerland. In addition, Fransie writes and illustrates children’s books. Fransie’s work is strongly influenced, not only by the memories of her childhood in politically challenged South Africa, but also by her experience, as Art Psychotherapist, in working with troubled and marginalised individuals. The recurring theme is the analysis of power in its different forms, especially in terms of abuse, in our society. Starting from Karl Marx’s statement “ religion is the opium of people”, Fransie introduces a philosophical reflection on the humans’ need, since the very beginning, to look for an answer on the origin of life in the concepts of a God. Religion can in fact take an obsessive connotation, sometimes even dangerous, when the idea of faith is distorted and used as a tool to justify other types on interests, like conflicts or the violation of fundamental human rights. The strict respect for dogmas can, as a matter of fact, lead to a one-sided approach which can become fanaticism and negation of the individual personality and will. These artworks reflect the artist’s profound sense of empathy for the neglected, especially children, with the aim of giving voice to their pain and their desperate need to be heard. The obsessive attention to violated rights and the representation of shattered lives finds its expression in the frequent use of elements such as birds, dragonflies and butterflies that become symbols of the desire for rebirth and redemption. Fransie uses mixed media and digitally altered images, which are then manually transferred onto the board. Layers of acrylic paint and glazes allow Fransie to create compositions where the depicted objects and people seem to have the chance of living a new life; in this way the artist is willing to offer her characters a second chance.

Art Curator Erika Gravante

Fransie Malherbe Frandsen

Helen

Fransie Malherbe Frandsen

Kindness Contagion

Fransie Malherbe Frandsen

Mind Full

Fransie Malherbe Frandsen

Stargazer

Fransie Malherbe Frandsen

Worn

Gabo Gussen “Sometimes I do get to places just when God’s ready to have somebody click the shutter.” (Ansel Adams)

In order to create “Gaivota Do Titicaca”, the Brazilian artist Gabo Gussen followed the process he usually uses to give life to his works: taking inspiration from a photograph, in this case taken in 2015 in Copacabana, Bolivia, precisely from the shores of Lake Titicaca, has created a romantic landscape painting of which the seagull in the center is the absolute protagonist. Leaning on a white boat of which only one end can be seen, the animal, portrayed realistically in every detail, turns its proud gaze straight in front of him. Observing the work you can breathe an atmosphere of peace and serenity, with a relaxing background: the waters of the lake are calm and from the blue sky without a cloud it is clear that, at the time of taking the photo, there was a pleasant and sunny day. The colors used are characterized by bright tonalities, but perfectly matched to each other. The work, in fact, presents an excellent chromatic balance: the white of the boat and the seagull contrast with the blue of the lake and the light blue of the sky. A touch of green and beige was used to represent the natural landscape in the background. Using a particular technique that mixes photography with digital painting, Gabo, through his works, takes us on a magical imaginary journey that catapults us directly into the reality he creates. The viewer, observing the seagull, dreams of being seated on the shores of Lake Titicaca surrounded by nature and warmed by the sun. The seagull, symbol of freedom, could be the protagonist of a fairytale with a moral in which, during his travels, he tells the strange adventures he lives by drawing wise teachings from them.

Art Curator Camilla Gilardi

Gabo Gussen

Gaivota do Titicaca

Gabriele Gracine “Everyone else have seen what is already there and have asked themselves why. I saw what it could be, and I wondered myself why not.” (Pablo Picasso) The artist Gabriele Gracine develops new frontiers to immerse herself in different dimensional spheres. Using a wide range of techniques to creatively express herself, Gabriele modifies and emphasizes the process of conceiving images and their fruition. Through the works presented at the exhibition “Fable”, the artist wishes to set an interactive and spectacular universe, through which the observer is capable of taking out the most from of his perceptive and sensorial qualities, reaching a completely personalized satisfaction. These “freeform digital paintings” are so dynamic and instantaneous, with the aim of emphasizing the transfer of data and sensations in real time. What fascinates the viewer is the set of innovative contents which Gabriele made up, where the three dimensions merge with a fourth one, the infinite and mysterious one, that time-space continuum which is represented in a completely concrete way. By going beyond the boundaries between subjectivity and objectivity, material and immaterial, art and information, till completing her work, Gabriele projects the concepts and images she wants to express in a well-defined space, leaving aside the superstructures she feels extraneous to her own thought. For example, as if it were inside a museum, but completely interactive, in “Exhibit A” a transformation of the digital universe takes place, understood as a creative, subjective and original activity that favors the establishment of new communicative and cultural processes. Or in “Promises”, “Extrovert” and “Prosper” the color and that light movement are the main characters, giving a new symbolism and arousing different emotions and moods in the observer. Finally, in “Summer Dress” it emerges a strong dynamism that emphasizes every chromatic choice of the artist and, through the use of such warm and delicate shades, the reference to summer carefreeness is evident. By going forward traditional artistic gestures, Gabriele Gracine’s imagination aims at a surreal dimension, without following certain patterns and rules, giving free rein to his creativity through multimedia.

Art Curator Alessia Perone

Gabriele Gracine

Exhibit A

Gabriele Gracine

Extrovert

Gabriele Gracine

Promises

Gabriele Gracine

Prosper

Gabriele Gracine

Summer Dress

Gala Zabruskova

Gala Zabruskova is an art photographer based in Russia. ‘For years in photography, I have noticed that my attraction is a story. I always look for plot development stories and I like emotional and dynamic shots with unusual and expressive characters. […] It is not just a fancy image I want to depict, but also a complicated picture where every single detail has its meaning. That is why fairytales and legends are my favorite sources of inspiration’. Gala’s ability to tell stories through staged and highly curated still image finds here an almost dichotomous though fascinating duet: ‘Syrin’ and ‘Tiny Ballerina’, symbols the artist’s eclectic approach to storytelling. ‘Syrin’ representes a more dark yet very elegant fabulous character while ‘Tiny Ballerina’ makes the viewers immersing into a more oneiric and idyllic dimension, bright and soft. “In Slavic mythology Syrin is the bird of sorrow. Her magic voice could make people forget about everything and follow her to get lost forever”. The picture represents a woman dressed up with dark clothes covered in dark feathers and with a black sharp diadem. The bird bringing sorrow is here symbolized by Gala as a woman, who evokes both an ecstatic beauty the viewer capturing from, and a maleficent aura, premonitory of something more obscure.

Gala Zabruskova

To cede to sorrow and a sense of perdition can be more easy than we think, as every danger per se has always had an attractive and morbid element to people. Instead, on a complete different vibration, but perhaps complementary to Gala’s poetics, ‘The tiny Ballerina’ is a way more positive and reassuring picture. ‘[…]It is the result of the collaboration with the Kremlin ballet dancer Arina Tomilina (@arina.t.t) and a talented Moscow scenery designer Mila (@likmua)’. The dancer dressed up in pink poses while being embraced by a flower placed in a lake. A magical aura dances around the ballerina, bringing the viewer’s experience on a proper journey into a fairytale. The delicacy of the chromatic choices and the grace of the girl capture the audience’s eyes into something not real, but still familiar. The photographer, thanks to her unique identifying style, made of a ‘preexistent screenplay’, is able to perfectly tells stories by merely using one detailed and reflective picture.

Nevertheless, the fictional setting of the picture functions primarily as the means to tell stories of an authentic subjectivity - Gala’s one - made of real emotions, intuitions, anguishes, fantasies, hopes.

Art Curator Cecilia Terenzoni

Gala Zabruskova

Sirin

Gala Zabruskova

Thumbelina

Harry T. Burleigh The artist Harry T. Burleigh represents women as a supreme beauty and full of grace, which plays a vital role in his artistic conception. The way she is portrayed and the symbolic role she plays have changed over the centuries, as artistic techniques and styles have evolved, as aesthetic tastes have changed and as the role of women in society has changed. The artist imagines a non-realistic but idealized figure of the woman, creating a perfect marriage with mythology, by depicting her as if she was the goddess Venere/Aphrodite: the great naturalness and sensuality typical of Greek sculptures are emphasized, bringing out a slight dynamism of her body. The feelings of faith and passionate love are mixed, as if the woman was completely abandoned to the ecstasy of the emotions experienced between spiritual and mythological dimensions. As for example in “Arrival of Mithras”, Harry T. Burleigh dedicates his work to the god Mithras: as far as this divinity is concerned, there is a not always homogeneous but certainly conspicuous transmission, both of rites, myths and spiritual values. The artist seems to portray Mithras as a woman, uniting the divine and the human aspects in a close bond. The silhouette of the young woman is illuminated as if it was struck by beam of light coming from the sky, symbolizing the strength of the Sun, that star that gives life and fertility in nature, filled with infinite energy. While in “Dionysus”, this divinity had a particular relevance both in classical and Hellenistic times and from the Renaissance period onwards, being expressed in many shapes, including sculpture, painting and abstract-philosophical thought through the music and theatre. The very nature of this god is deeply feminine, a symbol of “diversity”, madness and pleasure without limits: for these reasons she is one of the most fascinating and contradictory deities of the Greek mythology. In fact, drawing inspiration from all this, the artist represents the bursting vitality of nature from the moment of its awakening, through an unparalleled devotion and dedication. He emphasizes the divine and sensual aspects, suspended between sensitive and over-sensitive, in which the observer can admire the deep ecstasy caused by all that atmosphere slightly blurred by a convivial pleasure. Finally, in “Falicitus Bourrée”, the wavy and supple lines recall the sensuality of feeling and to her body. From being an inspiring muse, angelic or a tempting presence, up to a mysterious entity, Harry represents this female figure upside down, almost poised between appearing gentle and bewitching nymph, being an eternal heavenly source, a clear manifestation of that vivid and joyful art.

Art Curator Alessia Perone

Harry T. Burleigh

Falicitus BourreĚ e

Harry T. Burleigh

Arrival of Mithras

Harry T. Burleigh

Dionysus

Hashem Khair “No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist.”

(Oscar Wilde) The Jordanian artist Hashem Khair perfectly embodies in his works the concept expressed in the famous quote by the Irish writer: he loves the world of art because it is free, because it transcends all limits of the imagination and communicates sensations without the need for any words. Hashem creates works of which the bright but well-balanced tonalities reflect his lively, cheerful, but at the same time profound personality. In “Chunkie”, a large fish emerges from the white background which, with its curved shapes, occupies the entire sheet. The animal, of which blue and red are the main colors, opens its eyes wide and opens its hungry mouth to eat something. In “Noisy”, a nice smiling face looks at the viewer as if to enjoy being provocative with him and, as the title says, make noise and create confusion. The canary yellow and sky blue that define the features contrast with the brown of the face, creating a curious chromatic effect. “Proposals” is different from the two previously described works, both for the colored background and for the subjects, two in this case, of which a moment of sharing is represented. Although the facial features are not defined, the position of the bodies suggests that a dialogue is taking place between the two. On the left, the man, drawn with stylized lines, goes towards the woman represented with a large yellow and red dress. The cold blue of the background makes the colors used for the two protagonists stand out, symbolizing the playful and happy atmosphere created during their meeting. Hashem is a young artist with an incredible imagination and great talent who, through his works, communicates to the spectators his intense and pure inner world of which the metaphor are the original protagonists he conceived.

Art Curator Camilla Gilardi

Hashem Khair

Proposals

Hashem Khair

Noisy

Hashem Khair

Chunkie

Hege Rasmussen Silderen

Hege Rasmussen Silderen is a Norwegian artist based in Trondheim. To the painter, art is an intimate means to express and give shape to her inner dimension and inspirations. ‘Angeldance’ represents an angel on a colourful background. In art the angelic figure has multiple meanings: not only the connection between the earth and the heaven but also a powerful figure that proves the existence of another world/dimension. In this case, ‘Angeldance’ appears as a celestial vision with a magical spirit that emanates all his power and encourages the audience to transcend the realm of the real. Like the Albion of William Blake that shines with its own light and dazzles the viewer, the angel takes up the entire scene. But while Blake represents with strong and vivid colours a naked man stands on a rock, Hege adopts instead a mix of delicate shades that evokes the Northern light, an incredible phenomenon that has fascinated people for centuries, visible only in certain areas of the world, including the one where the artist comes from. Hege developed her own technique to depict and show to the spectator her relationship with art and her creations. ‘Angeldance’ spurs the audience to dream and believe in something better as it would happens in fairy tales: where the power of art and magic are synergically combined.

Art Curator Ylenia De Giosa

Hege Rasmussen Silderen

Angeldance

Hennariikka Kittelä

Hennariikka Kittelä is a Finnish artist whose creative sensibility is mainly conveyed by the creation of collages.

An eclectic artistic language that focuses on a wide and handcrafted approach to art: blending colours, modelling shapes and, in the artist’s case, giving also new life and form to analog materials. In this sense, making collage is an act of conservation and fragmentation of culture, that is able to produce new personal and intimate strategies of artistic narrative. Hennariikka, with a former background in clothing design, transposed her skill in playing with the chromatic sphere and in shaping contents on the white canvas. ‘My main focus in my collages is to make people smile. I´ve lived in Finland all my life and I wanted to bring color and happiness in the long, dark, cold winters. Even though my works might sometimes be little provocative and bold, there can still be a little humor and beauty in them’. The artwork Rusalka represents a black and white naked feminine body whose head is almost completely covered by colourful marine creatures. ‘In Slavic mythology, a rusalka is something akin to the Celtic mermaids or the Greek sirens. In short, rusalki are beautiful young women who dwell in bodies of water and enjoy enticing men. The concept of rusalki originated from a Slavic pagan tradition where the young women were symbols of fertility’. Rusalka aims at exalting the ancient beauty and a sense of eternity and prosperity through the re-contextualisation of the mythological figure, through the use of chromatic contrasts and elements of ‘old and new’ language combined together. Collage art becomes a cathartic means to express feelings on canvas and to also produce new meanings from amorphous materials and to imagine new fables from old symbols. And it is through this process that the artist’s subjectivity is strongly able to emerge.

Art Curator Cecilia Terenzoni

Hennariikka Kittelä

Rusalka

Hugo Auler, Jr

The artist Hugo Auler Jr. explores all types of colors and textures, drawing inspiration from life situations, people and the natural environment: in this way, through his artistic conception he manages to connect himself with the universe. Hugo Auler is looking for new ways to paint and to bring exciting ideas to his works. Exposing the principles of his aesthetic vision, he finds his perfect place and application in the field of painting and in the various aspects of everyday life. In fact, to escape from the daily routine, his art is conceived to be a therapy: the canvas, the colors and all his creativity emerge from his works and catch the observer’s attention, both visually and emotionally. A focal point of his artistic process turns out to be the imagination, which represents such a decisive and strong factor, a fantastic and unexpected moment. Abstraction that emerges from his paintings, provides a more faithful image of reality than illusionistic representations of objects from the visible and material world. As can be seen in “Geometry”, a progression of the pictorial language is showed: recalling Piet Mondrian with “Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow”, Hugo presents a geometric abstraction, based on the theory of artistic but also spiritual evolution, forming a total environment that affects modern life.

The squares and rectangles are defined by vertical and horizontal lines, largely contributing to the visual and abstract communication. The different brushstrokes define several geometric figures, defining the totality of the work. The essentiality of this painting is illustrated, transcending detail to express the universal: this one must be something that goes beyond the surface of nature. The representation of an inner reality is emphasized through the interaction of contrasting pictorial elements, giving impulse to a chromatic harmony and a balance of dynamic forces. It is interesting to note this emphasis on lines, colors and geometric shapes. While in “Rainforest cry for help”, the artist brings humanity in front of a truly striking fact: recalling the fire that occurred in the Amazon rainforest, Hugo Auler defends that green lung of the planet, source of oxygen and priceless heritage of animal and plant biodiversity. The message is crystal-clear: the orange line immersed in the green shows that the climate change is real, so the observer is involved and pushed to make an examination his actions, in order to start a process of preservation not only about the forests, but also for of all the natural environment that helps us to grow and live. Going beyond the artistic movement of Cubism, the fragmentation of tree shapes becomes increasingly abstract, starting from dark green to their complete dissolution in white. Finally, in “Where Earth meet...” the artist gives harmony and balance, relaxing the mind and body of the observer, by unveiling his emotional side. The blue color has no end, where the sky merges with the deep sea, continuing to mirror each other forever. All confirms this tonality as the main symbol of infinity, in order to reach that sense of protection and welcome capable of making a rebirth possible. But after all, what does the Earth encounter? Hugo Auler invites the observer to let himself go in this dynamic flow, in his moods, in the energy around him and in the desire to see what comes next.

Art Curator Alessia Perone

Hugo Auler, Jr

Geometry

Hugo Auler, Jr

Rainforest cry for help

Hugo Auler, Jr

Where Earth meets…

Irene Pietrobono

Irene Pietrobono is an Italian architect based in Milan. ‘In 2012, her growing passion for art led her to create, together with Alessandro Di Bono, partner in life, the artistic project ArteMonium and the choice to sign the works with the initials IP by Artemonium. Since then art has taken on an increasingly important role, painting becomes part of a process of personal growth and expression.’ The Japanese term yūgen points out not only the charm of the scarcely illuminated things whose limits and details cannot be fully understood, but it is also referred to what, in being obscure, is mysterious and inscrutable as beyond human understanding. The cathartic feeling of being able, through our receptive sensibility, to capture a signifying element of an artwork, is perhaps what the artist shows on canvas, in having that same introspective approach with her creations. ‘Yugen’ by Irene represents an imaginary locus amoenus through multiple chromatic tones. ‘Yugen’ symbolises a cavern, a cave that recalls a refuge or a special place, magical not only for those who create and conceive it but also for those who get to contemplate and experience it. Artists and philosophers debated on the relationship between symbolic ‘places’ and the human being: from the Lascaux’s caves to the myth of Plato’s cave, metaphor of our limits, to mysterious scenarios in which it is easy to get lost but also to start fantasizing about. ‘Yugen’ places its viewer in front of a variegated chromatic field, rather dark and intense, effective in stimulating a sensation of restlessness and curiosity, amazement and wonder. And it is when the individual becomes aware of the ‘mystery’ of the world surrounding him that he does not longer perceive it as a threat but, on the contrary, he accomplishes a reassuring feeling.

Art Curator Ylenia De Giosa

Irene Pietrobono

YUGEN

Isis Adriana Alvarado Diaz, a.k.a. fourtoeight “Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

The woman-nature combination is very old. The fundamental role of procreatress and the resulting instincts, make the female figure, a being closely connected to the natural world in a visceral and profound way. In art, there are many examples on the subject. Man has always had the need to tell about this bond and each time with a different language. “The Birth of Venus” by Botticelli, “Dance” by Matisse, “L’Origine du monde” by Courbet, are just a few examples. Isis Adriana Alvarado Diaz, a.k.a. fourtoeight, continues this research, making art an instrument of liberation from reality. The female figures represented here are immersed in nature and take on idyllic connotations. Through bold brushstrokes with intense colors, she constructs her imaginations, telling us about an ethereal world, accessible only with the imagination. A young mermaid lets herself be touched by the fish surrounding her, a fairy sits alone with a fruit in her hands. Her paintings hide a melancholy vein, but the ability in the contrast of colors gives strength and energy. A wonderful combination of sensations and feelings emerges. Nature thus becomes the key to open the door to the impetuous wind of imagination and a refuge where you can get away from reality.

Art Curator Francesca Brunello

Isis Adriana Alvarado Diaz, a.k.a. fourtoeight

Divided

Isis Adriana Alvarado Diaz, a.k.a. fourtoeight

Fairy with papaya

Isis Adriana Alvarado Diaz, a.k.a. fourtoeight

If I had a tail

Jane Gottlieb

Observing the works of artist Jane Gottlieb is a unique and inimitable experience: it really seems to enter another world. Jane’s works offer the vision of the real world but as if it were something extraordinary, fairytale. The world of fairy tales is in fact unique for its ability to build other worlds and take us far away with the imagination.

And it is precisely the imagination that Jane’s works stimulate, as well as the desire to reach these magical places. Jane has the ability to transform an absolutely everyday place into something magical and surreal. As in the work entitled “Storybook cottage”, an English cottage is transformed into the ideal setting for a fairy tale, which makes us dream of being in a pleasant place surrounded by nature. Or by entering the work “Eletric Egypt” we are ready to start new and fantastic adventures to discover a magical place like the desert. But Jane’s works are also populated with fantastic and unusual characters, who in the real world could only be the fruit of our imagination, but who here are the protagonists and inhabitants of these places. The big pink elephant, the protagonist of the homonymous work, seems to invite us to enter this enchanted forest: he will be the one to lead us into this magical world. Instead, in the work “Escape” a real magic happens: the static and immobile horses of a carousel come to life, run away and begin to gallop free on the meadow. In the work “Butterfly Sky”, the world we know is completely upset, because small and beautiful butterflies become immense creatures that dominate the skies. It seems like hearing the opening words of all fairy tales: once upon a time, in a fantastic place with sparkling colors and a magical atmosphere...

Art Curator Silvia Grassi

Jane Gottlieb

Electric Egypt

Jane Gottlieb

Pink elephant

Jane Gottlieb

Storybook cottage

Jane Gottlieb

Escape

Jane Gottlieb

Butterfliy Sky

Jeff Curran “Nature is a temple where living pillars murmur at times indistinct words; man passes through forests of symbols that observe him with familiar glances.” (Charles Baudelaire) The artist Jeff Curran pursues a defined artistic vision, producing images that reflect his journey and passion for exploration. Photography helps him to document the world around him, preserving memories and highlighting the complexities of the everyday environment. This confirms that for the artist nature takes the role of a visual event, just like in the works of impressionist painters. The images have a strong communicative value and invite the observer to admire them, thus triggering an emotional response. His aim is to visually catch and narrate a story that evokes feelings and draws the viewer into the scene. In fact, in “The Enchanted Forest” the artist creates a stable and well-structured composition through the contrast between the vertical lines of the trees and the horizontal lines of the ground, dedicating himself completely to the landscape. As in Gustav Klimt’s work “Beech Forest I”, Jeff Curran immortalizes the different trunks, where each trunk is different from the other in thickness, size and trend. One can get the impression that there are no points of reference, although the horizon is in stark contrast with the rest of the photography. A hidden geometry of the image is created by recalling one of the protagonists of geometric abstractionism as Piet Mondrian. All these trees reach the sky like columns in a cathedral created by the environment. Moreover, the artist manages to dwell on the mysterious and dark nature of the forest, creating a sparkling effect of light, far from reality. Jeff Curran’s style is a fusion of naturalistic elements of extreme decorative elegance that reaches the limit of an entirely fantastic dimension. This forest catches the observer by making him part of the work, beyond time and space.

“The straight lines in opposition to each other constantly intersect, so that their rhythm continues throughout the work.” (Piet Mondrian)

Art Curator Alessia Perone

Jeff Curran

The Enchanted Forest

JoAnne Ruggeri International artist with extraordinary communication skills through her collages tells us and explores profound concepts such as that of “real” and “unreal”, deepening cognitive aspects that revolve around the dimension of dreams, memory and fantasy, wrapping us in the deepest sphere given by our subconscious. Having the good fortune to meet and be able to admire a live work of this extraordinary artist is a unique opportunity to make a wonderful journey in search of ourselves, within our deepest and most authentic self. It is like having a chance to get in touch with our subconscious to access our personal internal narratives, imaginary, precious resources and be able to group them in our mind and from which we usually access only when we dream. This is exactly what happens in front of a work by this artist, all those elements that are part of our deepest interiority re-emerge. A real path that allows us to give voice to our most authentic and true self. How much of everything we experience is real or unreal? Thus in this extraordinary work the artist creates a collage of several elements that enter into dialogue with each other precisely to deepen and explore these aspects, involving us in a unique experience of extreme charm. Works that stimulate the observer’s attentive gaze and her mind, a pleasant invitation to explore and explore more and more and more deeply as a real introspective journey within oneself. Art and psychology in the works of JoAnne Ruggeri real personal narratives in which to reflect and recognize oneself. So even in the choice of its technique, collage, reflects exactly these concepts, indeed it strengthens them a lot as a concrete expression of a conscious and concrete self that becomes a narrative tool and spokesperson for an inner change that takes shape and style through a figurative language rich in note. Living an art experience through direct contact with a work by this artist means having the extraordinary opportunity to carry out a highly significant introspective work towards oneself. The precious and wonderful gift of a brilliant artist like JoAnne.

Art Curator Giulia Zanesi

JoAnne Ruggeri

Travaux de Maçonnerie

Johann Neumayer

As a designer, Joahnn Neumayer’s artistic production is influenced by different techniques belonging to different realities, which the artist makes complementary. Artist and designer coexist and create imaginary worlds, as can be seen in the “The Space and dream imaging machine” serie. The use of Rhino software allows the artist to create three-dimensional models that lend themselves to 3D printing.The main image is repeated and it is about the woman. Image number one seems to focus on the person, the representation of faces that do not look at each other is related to the inattention to the people who everyday we come across. The use of bright and contrasting colors refers to psychedelic art. Purple is a cold color and tends to suggest coolness. However, in image number two the determination is highlighted, the female figures are represented in such a way as to give a glimpse of concentration, intention and decision. It is perceived a perfectly straight posture, even if eyes are not represented you can feel the gaze fixed in front of you. The use of red demonstrates the intention to express movement, red means vital energy. Blue, on the other hand, has many different meanings and lends itself to as many interpretations, it has a widely recognized emotional power , just think of Picasso’s Blu Period.

In the following images, other elements are inserted, there are background colors which can represent the world. The amount of colors frames the figures and makes them one with the rest of the images inserted. From image number three the attention is shifted from the upper bodies part to the lower one. In this image colors are multiplied, we have black which indicates power, elegance and mystery. The use of green, that kind of green can be interpreted as the metaphor of the world, but green can also signify acid, poison. Orange is the color of enthusiasm, excitement, heat. In the image number four figures multiply, but more importance is given to full bodies representation. Images are overlapped, multiplied, some of them are so linked that it is almost impossible distinguish them. This can become a human relations metaphor, some people are totally disconnected, others, closely linked. Purple and blue are the predominant colors.In the image number five, very similar to the third one, colors are changed and different elements are added, if in the third image the whole figure that is placed at the bottom left is disconnected from other elements, in the last image a very clear connection is shown. Where there was black now there is transparency, blue becomes a rainbow, red disappears and yellow, orange, light blue and light green are shown. In image number five it seems that Neumayer wants to methaporize with images the ideal relationships between human beings: transparent, positive, luminous. Think about relations, mental connections which can be established with others can be negative sometimes.

Johann Neumayer seems to want to represent the world of human relations, sometimes disenchantment, sometimes the importance given to career distracts from what happens in the world around us, or again, at times human relationships can weigh on people individuality. Neumayer creativity allows you to get in touch yourself and ask questions, boundaries and imaginative limits are deleted by the artist expressive capacity who by doing so gives life to unique works.

Art Curator Martina Viesti

Johann Neumayer

The space and dream imaging machine - 1

Johann Neumayer

The space and dream imaging machine - 2

Johann Neumayer

The space and dream imaging machine - 3

Johann Neumayer

The space and dream imaging machine - 4

Johann Neumayer

The space and dream imaging machine - 5

Juliusz Kegel

The artist Juliusz Kegel presents five new and unpublished works at the M.A.D.S. gallery, bringing out his inner figuration that evokes magical fusions and luminous depths. He transforms objective nature and the surrounding reality into his personal poetics and acute artistic sensitivity. The thematic, coloristic, dynamic evolution of his paintings is manifested through the innate perspective relief, in the sharp vibrant color of light and vital energy, in the immediacy of visual perception and in the jubilation of the image. The relative objectivity coincides with the absolute subjectivity, highlighting the details and tones in a universal ethic of perceptive sensations and in an infinite range of chromatic gradations. Through this coloristic and compositional research, the artist, in fact, transmits messages of life that are sublimated by art. For example, in “Exit” Juliusz wants to invite the observer to go beyond that brick wall and enter the immensity of the art world. As in this work, even in “Running River” and “Sea View” the pivotal element revolves around a purely material concept of painting, emphasizing every detail of the canvas and bringing out the purity and vivacity of color. The viewer’s perception creates a link with these works and is able to capture organic forms. While in “None colour” and “The Starry Moon”, the artist gives free rein to movement, creating a dynamism that immediately captures and involves the viewer. In these chromatic frenzies, the viewer can follow every direction taken by numerous shades, joining the works and actively participating in the creative act. As in a dance, in an action not conceived and not planned in the modes of execution and in the final effects, the color strikes the canvas where the subconscious is aiming at: it is the unconscious part of the psyche that is indelibly imprinted on the work. Going beyond the mediation of the brush to preserve the immediacy of the creative impulse, Juliusz Kegel gives his works energetic brushstrokes and material textures, through a rhythmic movement that reveals the artist’s ego, and all vital tension is transferred from the canvas to the observer.

“Painting is not an aesthetic act: it is a form of magic intended as a work of mediation between this foreign world and us.” (Pablo Picasso)

Art Curator Alessia Perone

Juliusz Kegel

None colour

Juliusz Kegel

Exit

Juliusz Kegel

Running River

Juliusz Kegel

Sea View

Juliusz Kegel

The Starry Moon

Junghee Lee (Maki) “It is Mâyâ, the veil of deception, which blinds the eyes of mortals, and makes them behold a world of which they cannot say either that it is or that it is not: for it is like a dream; it is like the sunshine on the sand which the traveller takes from afar for water.” (Arthur Schopenhauer) Art as a means to rise from everyday life. To uproot oneself from the world of reality in order to gently fall into the world of ideas and slowly savour new creative epiphanies that have been forgotten for too long. To look away from the incessant and repeated routine, from the dilemmas and choices to which we are constantly exposed, to go against a certain and guaranteed reality to embrace the trembling of the unknown. An unknown which, in reality, is the essence of all things. Art has the ability to make visible what is hidden and has the capacity to develop, through its multiple mediums, embryos of ideas that have been waiting too long to be generated and come to light. Space, time and causality, our knowledge of the world is purely illusory. What we see and perceive, our habits, manias and vices are nothing but a hard and almost impregnable shell that prevents us from reaching the truth, the authentic essence of the world. This barrier, a sneaky and constantly present veil of Maya, takes us away from the purest form of things, to embrace a reality that takes fictions and superficial elements as a glue and as its constitutive elements. Art produces a breach in the armour, it throws you into the unknown, into unexplored places which, although poorly illuminated, guard the true essence of the world, the noumenon. The passage from a sunny environment to a dark room requires a particular effort for the eye to get used to the sudden change of brightness and to adapt to darkness. Much like the human retina, the creative process produces in the individual an initial state of confusion, a situation of positive change that, once disintegrated the armor of reality is resolved in the discovery of the essence of the world. Maki decides to move away from the elements that subjugate everyday life, bypassing the working parenthesis that tacitly englobes you in a spiral of monotony and insistent solicitations. She decides to dissociate herself from the purely material world to find herself in another place, through new ways of expression. In this sense, Maki has embarked on the path of art, a path that for her is still studded with trials and experimentation, enlightening ideas and creative epiphanies that tear the suffocating veil of Maya that she has dragged on her shoulders all her life. Just as the pilgrim who, during his long journeys, discovers new places, tastes new foods and forges bonds with new souls, so Maki makes a journey in colours, in pictorial matter, in techniques and in the lives of those who, with a brush in hand, have preceded her. In Silence, which recalls Rothko’s large canvases, a thick layer of white spatulate paint covers a coloured surface that is difficult to identify. A veil of Maya that, dense, opaque and textured, hides underneath itself that world so complex and multiform that Maki has just found again.

Art Curator Lisa Galletti

Junghee Lee (Maki)

Purple feast

Junghee Lee (Maki)

Silence

Junghee Lee (Maki)

Time stopped

Kayla Branstetter “On the floor I’m at ease, so I feel closer to the painting, I can walk through it, I can approach it from all sides and literally I get into it.” (Jackson Pollock) At the exhibition “Fable”, the artist Kayla Branstetter presents an energetic and impressive work. “Life’s Dance” stands out from any pre-established form, where strong sensations are fully realized through lines and colors blended in freedom or combined outside of a rational order. The instinctive impulse prevails over the reason and its superstructures, catching in this way, the observer’s attention with all the dynamism that is generated inside the painting. This movement affects every part of the body, as well as every perceptive faculty of the observer. Through such an immediate and spontaneous technique, free from any scheme, a close bond is created between the artist, the painting and the spectator, to allow a close proximity with the pictorial material, where each element becomes part of it. As in Jackson Pollock’s works, in this painting one perceives a chaotic image, an interweaving of lines and nuances, the result of an impetuous and vital gesture. The abstract and geometric themes originate from the deepest parts of the mind, bring out what are the most unconscious motivations of the individual. The sketches of color of different liveliness are constantly assembled and mixed, while at the same time they emphasize an intense harmony. Expressing all this energy, Kayla gives rise to an explosion, both of chromatic nuances and contrasting feelings in the observer. Without the limit of the frame, but rather beyond that border. The dynamic action and the different moods generated in the canvas a powerful and expressive language, in which the observer is involved, letting himself be carried away by the impetuous atmosphere of the work.

“The big moment came when it was decided to paint... Just to Paint! The gesture on the canvas was an act of liberation.” (Harold Rosenberg)

Art Curator Alessia Perone

Kayla Branstetter

Life’s Dance

Kiyomi Baird The five artworks on the display “Fable” exhibition made by Kiyomi Baird, are the result of enhanced work using computers and a software. Drawing inspiration from her photographs or previously scanned objects, the artist wishes to evoke a meditative feeling from which images can shine in the viewer’s imagination. Through digital use, Kiyomi creates works that are completely different and original, both in terms of the way they are used and the greater psychosensory involvement of the viewer in them. In these digital collages there is the possibility to emphasize the technological spectacularism, facilitating the union between body and mind. These new spatial and creative dimensions emerge through our critical consciousness and can also take place outside the technological sphere, allowing art to become almost a dreamlike and mysterious metaphor. In Kiyomi the use of technology highlights its multimediality, versatility and transversality, allowing a greater dialogue with the observer, so that he is more active in the communication process. As if they were emerging from a canvas, different geometric and abstract shapes attract the observer’s objective and visual attention, making a perceptive-creative synthesis unforgettable. The artist manages to shift the observer’s interest towards all that is found before the figures themselves, their immediate and intuitive perception, their spatial relationship and their essence. In this way, it is possible to frame that “magical” moment, in which everything is coming together and changing from different directions, to flow into a point of convergence that collects artistic evolutions coming from a distant temporal and spatial dimension. Kiyomi Baird’s research best expresses the perceptive process of each individual, expanding itself to infinity. It connects numerous elements, such as form, movement, light, color and energy, communicating efficiently with the observer. In her visual language she extrapolates her own feelings with the aim of making them available to the entire world, in a way to capture a sensory and personal development within the observer. The artist offers the opportunity to the observer to immerse himself into a dimensional reality, by helping the observer to absorbe a new ideology of imagination.

Art Curator Alessia Perone

Kiyomi Baird

Between words and things

Kiyomi Baird

Crossing path abound

Kiyomi Baird

Light opens windows

Kiyomi Baird

Listen to your heart 2

Kiyomi Baird

Midnight blankets light

Laila Kvalsund Solhaug

The first dancers painted by the young Degas appeared among the pastel colors of a canvas of 1868, entitled “The Opera Orchestra”. Here we can see, on the third floor, the heads-less bodies of the dancers, whose legs appear tapered, tanned in the dance, and the frivolous drunkenness of the pink and blue tutus, in contrast with the dark wood of the stage. A pictorial enchantment. This is how the entire work of the most realistic French painter among the impressionists could be defined. Or rather, the less impressionist French painter among the impressionists. That’s right, Degas was an impressionist sui generis. His adherence to the core principles of the pictorial movement at the end of the nineteenth century was not full and total. This, however, did not prevent his paintings from being exhibited alongside those of Renoir and Pisarro, in Nadar’s studio, in the spring of 1874, when those painters were called, for the first time, Impressionnistes. Initially, the study of the ballets and the young girls whirling were a way to reduce reality to a purely aesthetic moment but, at the end of the eighties, the painter’s investigation became deeper. His painting thus became an attempt to demean, to strip the miseries of the bodies, to give them matter. In an enveloping flow of a luminous space, where transparencies, contrasts, whites, graceful colors of organza immortalize the poses of Laila Kvalsund Solhaug, whose work “Dance away from sorrows” represents the gracious sweetness of a silent feminine world, built on taciturn tricks and gestures.

The study, the analysis of the details and the pictorial imprint, are immediate and instantaneous and leave to the spectator the idea of a dreamy world, enchanted and magic.

Art Curator Federica D’Avanzo

Laila Kvalsund Solhaug

Dance away from sorrows

Leni Acosta Knight

Leni Acosta Knight’s style perfectly combines classical realism with abstract expressionism, preferring themes that reflect her passion for philosophy and poetry. On the occasion of this exhibition, through her three canvases Leni offers her own interpretation of the concept of Fable. In fact, without sacrificing attention to social issues, the artist evokes a fairytale atmosphere through the chromatic range and often-surrealistic scenarios. In On Earth as in The Heavens the artist paints two fantastic and related sceneries, that represent her personal conception of Heaven and Earth. In the higher part of the canvas a female face in a state of inner peace is floating in an unreal and delicate space. This atmosphere of magical serenity is also evoked and increased by the symbolic details of moonlight, bird flight and lush flowers, the latter, in Leni’s opinion, our link between Heaven and Earth. Nevertheless, the sensation of freedom expressed from this part of the composition is balanced by a more restless and expressive use of color in the lower part of the canvas. Here the painter, through a dense use of symbols, intends to represent the sufferings of people living on Earth and particularly of survivors and victims of abuse and violence, who inspired this painting. Religious icons, such as Muslim mosque, Christian cross and Buddhist temple, placed at the left corner of the painting, are introduced to symbolize a use of religion as a tool for prejudice and violence. Confusing figures, emerging from the deepest of the color, become expressions of human pain. In this part of the composition, Leni spreads colors through the help of her fingers, letting them drip onto the canvas like dark tears. Nevertheless, the title of the work, inspired by Neil deGrasse Tyson’s book “Astrophysics for People in a Hurry”, expresses Leni’s intent to propose a message of hope, represented on the canvas by the flight of the bird, that becomes an encouragement not to be afraid. Child Within proposes once again a feminine subject, a woman proudly holding her baby in her arms.

Woman is, not by chance, a recurrent subject in Leni’s paintings that reflect her commitment in humanitarian projects, particularly against domestic and sexual violence. In fact, this painting is inspired by the psychology of either meeting, re-learning and healing. Through this painting the artist urges us to recover the child within all of us. Classical realism is perfectly balanced by the expressionist use of colors that pervade the whole canvas, not accurately describing tones of reality but representing the feelings of the painter. In Chaos: Seeds of Change, the composition, representing a woman spreading her arms as a sign of freedom, evokes typical elements of fable, expressed not only by the palette but especially by the absence of a realistic scenery, replaced with a fantastic and imaginary universe. Expressionist use of colors, becoming multicolor indistinct luminous trails in some places of the canvas, contributes to increase this fairytale atmosphere. Leni’s works consent the viewer to wonder and reflect about social issues, pushing him to desire to act in order to make the world he lives in better. But at the same time, her canvases propose a message of hope, helping us to fly away from our pain and sufferings just like her characters.

Art Curator Marta Graziano

Leni Acosta Knight

Child Within

Leni Acosta Knight

Chaos: Seeds of Change

Leni Acosta Knight

On Earth as in The Heavens

Leticia Estévez “There are painters who transform the sun to a yellow spot, but there are others who, with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun.” (Pablo Picasso) Spanish artist Leticia Estévez loves to represent nature in all its splendor and uses color, blue as a favorite, to represent the landscapes of the island where she lives, Tenerife. Her canvases convey sensations of peace and serenity, the same that the artist feels while creating her works with a strong evocative power. In “Flores II” is painted a graceful little bird which, resting on the table, admires a colorful bouquet of flowers in a transparent vase through which it is possible to perceive the blue background. In the work, the subjects are depicted in a realistic way and in the smallest details. Daisies and many other colored flowers create a joyful and lively atmosphere, metaphor for Leticia’s sunny personality. In “Mi playa” the sea, artist’s faithful friend from whom she takes inspiration to give life to her magical creations, occupies almost the entire canvas. A small strip of the sandy beach is almost totally covered by the foam that caused the movement of the waves. The work allows the viewer to let one’s imagination wander and dreaming of being in a real fairytale landscape. In “Tesoro marino” the same subject of the previous work is taken up. The sea is represented in several works by the artist in different seasons and different weather conditions. The undisputed protagonist of the canvas is blue, the only color used in different shades and occasionally broken by some small yellow lines. The broad brushstrokes in different directions remind the movement of the waves of which, by concentrating and closing our eyes, we can hear the sound. Color represents everything for Leticia: it is the tool with which she expresses her precious inner world, it is the means she uses to paint every moment of her life to make it unique.

Art Curator Camilla Gilardi

Leticia EstĂŠvez

Flores II

Leticia EstĂŠvez

Mi Playa

Leticia EstĂŠvez

Tesoro Marino

Leticia Herrera “I consider myself an expanding artist because we are always transforming. My work walks and changes with me.” (Leticia Herrera) Leticia Herrera is a Mexican artist interested in exploring the soul and subconscious of human beings: all this is indelibly marked in her works. One of the focal points of her personal style in paintings, is to capture the perspective inside them: three-dimensional shapes (the “Walkers”) emerge from the canvases, as if they were travelers and dreamers who create a connection between the earthly world and the fantasy one, in search of joy and peace. Just as in the work “United by Love”, the shadows of her Walkers describe a constant, unstoppable movement towards the fulcrum of human existence and emphasize a sense of vulnerability and hope. At the center of the canvas appears the soul of our planet, depicted in the shape of a heart. In fact, love is the pivotal element that guides each individual in his life choices, helping him not to give up in the face of difficulties and hoping for a global well-being. All these travelers head towards the world, filling it with color, vivacity and luminosity. United to create and succeed in improving the land on which they walk, regardless of religion, skin color, customs and habits: however, it still remains crucial the force of will and the and openness to change.

Especially in this difficult period that has brought all countries to their knees, Leticia offers a beacon of hope, that warm and welcoming light at the end of that dark tunnel. Giving an image to thoughts and emotions helps to become aware of one’s own abilities, exorcising fear and remaining united in the fight against this invisible evil. The artist wants to be fraternally close to all humanity and wants to transport the observer into an enchanted world, in search of that love that gives the whole world serenity, emotions and positive feelings.

“The brotherhood among human beings. Imagine all people sharing the whole world. You can say that I am a dreamer, but I am not the only one. I hope that you too will join one day, and the world will become one.” (John Lennon)

Art Curator Alessia Perone

Leticia Herrera

United by Love

Lika Ramati

From childhood they told fairytale stories to make us understand the world through a medium that is familiar: fantasy and imagination. Each work of the artist Lika Ramati embodies an entire story, a story that is just waiting to be told and, above all, heard. In the works presented here, in particular, the imagination plays a fundamental role. In fact, the protagonist of the work “Fortune Teller” reads the palm of our hand and projects us into our future, makes us imagine possible events and possible situations that can happen to us, in which we can find ourselves. The protagonist of the work “The Mad Hatter” is instead an ultra-feminine and contemporary representation of the homonymous character who par excellence represents the world of fantasy, the world of Alice in Wonderland. For the hatter, time has stopped and also the setting of the work and the choice of colors recreates an atmosphere of a moment that has stopped and has remained frozen and indissoluble. Initially. even the myths arose as stories told with the aim of giving an explanation to what man could not explain, over time they became a real literal and theatrical genre, that gave birth to incredible imaginative stories. One of the most famous is undoubtedly that of the sphinx and its riddle, which Lika represents in her work “The Sphynx riddle”.

In the last two works, however, “Lyncoln Grand Hotel” and “Green Fantasy”, the protagonists accompany us to places that could be the background for stories and adventures worthy of the wildest imagination. In the first we find ourselves in a beautiful hotel ready to face a wonderful adventure in a distant and exotic place. Inside and outside merge, as if we were already thinking about what awaits us outside. In the second, however, the protagonist of the painting is about to accompany us into a fantastic world, worthy of the most beautiful and adventurous fairy tale.

Art Curator Silvia Grassi

Lika Ramati

The Mad Hatter

Lika Ramati

The Sphynx riddle

Lika Ramati

Fortune Teller

Lika Ramati

Lyncoln Grand hotel

Lika Ramati

Green Fantasy

Linda Stern “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” (Carl Gustav Jung)

The works of the Austrian artist Linda Stern tell much more than what appears to be possible to see: each piece that makes up her collages has a profound meaning and, when combined with the others, helps to create a story with a strong evocative power. “TO BE”: a short title, but full of contents, chosen to make the true essence of man fully understood. One person, many shades, different thoughts, personalities that sometimes mix up to get confused. Light skin, putted up hair, eyes that stare at the viewer as if to tell him something, perhaps every single part of herself. The face of the protagonist of the work, as required by the collage technique, presents the face broken up into several parts: of the largest silhouette on the background, we can see only the left part of her face, half torso and the right arm of which, the different hands split, support the other smaller faces superimposed on each other. From these you can see the features of the girl’s face: green and expressive eyes, a small straight nose, and fleshy lips. “TO BE”, therefore, does not only mean being aware of the different sides of we, but it also means accepting them all and liking oneself in front of a mirror. Turn your weaknesses into strengths, use our special abilities to change what we do not like. Linda’s works, free from any pre-established pattern and created with a process of which the imagination is the master. The collages allow those who look at them to immerse themselves in the world of the artist and identify themselves completely with the subject by reviewing a part of their own person and their life story.

Art Curator Camilla Gilardi

Linda Stern

TO BE

Louise Pittam

“Everyday we wake up with a choice to stay in the known, to stick with our routine where it’s comfortable, and maybe even somewhat boring and uninspiring. But what if we took more risks?”. This is the premise of the work entitled “The Unknown” by Scottish artist Louise Pittam. With this work, the artist sends a message to her audience, inciting them to discover new things, to abandon the comforts dictated by monotony and to be carried away by what we do not know. The colors chosen by the artist are linked to the abstract work “Autumn Rhythms (n. 30)” by the artist Jackson Pollock: black meets gold, thus referring to a duality. Light and darkness, what we know and what is unknown. The darkness may frighten but it is perhaps the only way that we have left to find our youth and care free. Another element that brings back to lightheartedness are the brushstrokes and spatula given with immediacy, without a reflection, emphasizing even more the message of improvisation. This technique highlights the unevenness of the colors that invade the opposite side, suggesting that one is always part of the other, like “Ying and Yang”. This painting expresses the both sides of the inner part. Each side affects the other, nothing is simply defined, boundaries are never clear, so what we have left is to accept that there is always darkness in the light and light in the darkness. Not always what you do not know leads to something evil indeed, often can only bring change and excitement in your life.

Art Curator Giorgia Massari

Louise Pittam

The Unknown

Lucia Heumann

Lucia Heumann is a young German artist, she’s a photographer and painter. At MADS Milano art gallery she presents five paintings: four of them are coming from her collection “No eyes” and the other one is entitled “Flowers”. It’s immediately clear that she already has her own style, she uses oil and acrylic colours with which she creates her imaginary characters. “No eyes” collection is composed of a paintings series in which characters don’t have eyes: for the most part they are female figures without hair, thus focusing attention on their faces. This is the case of the painting number 12 in oil on canvas: she doesn’t have hair, her eyes are completely white, without iris, and small ivy branches can be seen on her face and body. This last particular is clearly visible on the woman’s face in painting number 7 and even more so in painting number 10 in which the woman’s skin takes on a bluish coloration and her face is inscribed in a cube. These three paintings acquire a dramatic aura, accentuated even more by the dark backgrounds that give gloom to the paintings, in which the main focus is undoubtedly the frightening totally white eyes. Different is the background in painting number 4, which sees a woman, this time with short blond hair, surrounded by a delicate pink background. Although the colors are brighter, the drama is still the protagonist, accentuated even more by the black lines that strew the woman’s face: the effect is that of a porcelain doll that is slowly falling apart. The reason why Heumann chooses not to paint eyes is probably the same as the Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani: the eyes are the mirror of the soul and so until he really knew the souls of his subjects would not represent their eyes on canvas. In fact, the actor who plays Modigliani in his biographical film, “The colors of the soul”, says during a scene: “If I get lucky, one day I will paint your eyes”. This is an interesting point of view that can also be valid for Heumann, certainly what emerges from her paintings is a need to find out who these dramatic characters are. A need to know their history and their thoughts. The eyes are present in her last painting called “Flowers”. Contrary to the previous paintings, in which even if they are not present they become the focus, here the eyes become secondary: the attention is turned to the crown of the woman made by rapid brushstrokes of white, red and yellow. The latter recall a flowery field and it is as if the woman’s face emerged from this surface. Lucia Heumann proves her great sensitivity and artistic technique, presenting five women from another reality: from her imagination.

Art Curator Giorgia Massari

Lucia Heumann

No eyes no.12

Lucia Heumann

No eyes no. 7

Lucia Heumann

No eyes no. 10

Lucia Heumann

Flowers

Lucia Heumann

No eyes no. 4

Luisa Barba

Fairy tales are always populated with magical creatures and fantastic stories. But sometimes nature is able to give us real, but absolutely fantastic, creatures that seem just out of a child’s wildest imagination. One example among all is the white lion: such a unique and majestic creature. For hundreds of years, it was believed that they were only the protagonists of South African legends and their white mantle symbolized the goodness present in all creatures. The white lion is also the protagonist of the work of the artist Luisa Barba, who shows us all her beauty and her pride. The lion’s white mantle is contrasted with a bright red, as if illuminated by the fiery light of a sunset in the savannah.

Luisa Barba

But also, myths and legends, in addition to magical stories, have always been part of the stories of our ancestors.

Above all, the myths were a way to explain something that was sometimes too big to be understood by man, such as his relationship with the divine. Luisa in the work “Reunion” shows us precisely the mystical encounter, the reunion, of man with a greater entity, who holds out his hand and welcomes them with kindness. Luisa represents the meeting of bodies, but above all of souls.

“Mythology is not a lie, mythology is poetry, it is metaphor. It has been rightly said that mythology is the penultimate truth - penultimate because the latter cannot be expressed in words. It is beyond words.” (Joseph Campbell)

Art Curator Silvia Grassi

Luisa Barba

White Lion

Luisa Barba

Reunion

Luz Sanchez “The poet loves to play with the invisible: he takes the air around a butterfly and builds the smile of a child.” (Fabrizio Caramagna) Fairy tales like art tell stories. Art is a tale made up of shapes, light and color, just as fairy tales are a tale made up of imagination and fantasy. Here the artist Luz Sanchez wants to tell us the story and the adventures of this wonderful winged creature, through her works full of color and energy. In the work “La Busqueda”, we observe the creature that moves away from us, flies away, to enter uncontaminated nature, in search of we do not yet know what. The nature represented by Luz is as always full of life thanks to its bright, clear and brilliant colors.

Luz shows us a lush landscape, full of colorful flowers and verdant plants. You can only glimpse in the distance the presence of man in this world that the wonder of nature makes magical. Looking at the second work entitled “Esperanza”, we understand where the creature was headed: towards the swarm of bees, which can also be seen in the first work, which was pollinating the flowers. The creature observes them with amazement, observes with admiration those who make the magic of pollination possible, which allows flowers to be always so luxuriant and nature to always be so alive. In this work, the creature shows itself in all its beauty: we can clearly observe its beautiful wings of a thousand colors, which with their flapping radiate light and color even in the surrounding air. Luz has just catapulted us into the magical world of nature. That world that man, unfortunately, is slowly destroying by being too invasive. Luz, in the work “Desolacion”, represents this situation of desolation perfectly and in a very immediate and shocking way. Man, with his passage, brings only destruction and drying up. With these works, Luz focus precisely on the dramatic phenomenon of the reduction of bee specimens, which are fundamental for the whole development of nature. Luz leads us to reflect deeply.

Art Curator Silvia Grassi

Luz Sanchez

DESOLACION

Luz Sanchez

ESPERANZA

Luz Sanchez

LA BUSQUEDA

Maddy Lane “Lend your ears to music, open your eyes to painting, and... stop thinking! Just ask yourself whether the work has enabled you to ‘walk about’ into a hitherto unknown world. If the answer is yes, what more do you want?” (Vasilij Kandinskij)

Once upon a time Mr. Ghosty, a small ghost escaped from the wickedness of humans, in search of a serene corner of the world where the moon is black but never stops shining, and in which a castle - during the night - sounds if someone crosses it. Mr. Ghosty, lulled by music, finally finds himself in a world devoid of fear and anguish and, now free, dance happy in the night. Through her reticular lines Maddy Lane creates an enchanted world in which music is the protagonist. The pictorial trait of Maddy Lane is recognizable because unique, nature and artifice blend between the lines and the background. The artist translates the concept of the exhibition into painting, and focusing on the magical theme of the fable tale she abandons herself to the purest memories: the memory of childhood, the imaginary worlds that we have all built - in our minds - to continue to amaze us. It strikes the image of a black moon, well defined, which instead of darkening the canvas, illuminates it with a magical light.

This time the abstract sign of the lines turns into an enchanted castle whose foundation is music, represented by the sign of the notes. Once again, in his canvases, we notice the conceptual and abstract aspect given in this case by the musical notes: interesting aspect that still recalls Kandinskjj and his pictorial-musical compositions.

The shades of blue background create a game of magic and brilliance mixing with white and black. The canvas comes to life thanks to the material color, small but full-bodied pieces of pure color mixed with blue. If you totally immerse yourself in the magic of the painting, you can also see Mr. Ghosty, the white ghost with black eyes, dance in the halls of the castle... Look for him in the night, and you will find him.

Art Curator Giulia Calì

Maddy Lane

Mr. Ghosty’s night dancing

Maja Lakomy

Maja Lakomy is a Polish born and raised artist based in Los Angeles, California. A great admirer of the human form, she mainly focuses on exploring portraiture. Lakomy works with different mediums, including charcoal, acrylic and oil paint, as well as digital. Lakomy presents at MADS Milano art gallery three portraits realized in digital. All three portraits are made following the teachings of Impressionist masters: outlines are not defined and colors of the background invade the faces of women. The lightness of the lines and the shades recall the dancers’s ballet dresses of Degas, in particular in the 1878 work “L’Etoile” in which a solo dancer is depicted.

The execution visually leads back to the French Impressionist painter Berthe Morisot, who in her portraits made light games by combining different shades of the same color, without ever using black. The first work analyzed here is entitled “Andrea”, it best exemplifies Lakomy’s technique: a delicate blue background invades the face of the blonde girl, who looks straight into the eyes of the viewer. Background becomes one with the subject, the colors blend together and it is as if Lakomy had painted the face of the girl reflected in the water. In fact, a feeling of fleeting emerges, a moment before the image is visible and the next moment disappears. The following two works portray the same modality as “Andrea”. In “Fira” is represented a beautiful Asian woman on a delicate pink background and in “Kiana” a beautiful woman graces the composition with her electrifying dark curls. Both works establish a strong connection with viewers thanks to the magnetic power that the artist gives to the gaze of women.

Art Curator Giorgia Massari

Maja Lakomy

Andrea

Maja Lakomy

Fira

Maja Lakomy

Kiana

Makoto Kimura “One eye sees, the other feels.� (Paul Klee)

Makoto Kimura is a Japanese artist born in Kagawa in 1982 where he lives and works.Makoto’s investigation is to explore fantasy, imagination and dreams through his eyes.Very rich and complex art: elements of primitivistic and expressionistic taste merge in it where his fantastic freedom reaches a sort of pictorial automatism parallel to surrealism, to an expression charged with romantic emotion, where humor and childish ecstasy are mixed together. Sensitive and refined artist, he leads us towards the deepening of the magical relationships that exist between shapes, ideas, places and colors with a new abstract and symbolic expressive language, giving the observer the atmosphere and sensations of a composition in which the objects and the figures appear immersed in dreamy and evocative places.

Makoto Kimura

His style denotes a significant mastery of artistic knowledge with an expressive charge in which the charm of his works is contained where the color gives life to harmonics and fairytale atmospheres.If we add this geometric proportions and the use of shades with a constructive function and a lyrical transfiguration of reality, we notice squares of surprising and enchanting beauty flow before our eyes.His works represent numerous windows to human consciousness, his use of drawing reveals his attempt to use art as an instrument of his philosophical conception, paintings whose purpose is not to represent reality but to investigate it in its most hidden processes; a very accurate analytical procedure aimed to perceive physical and psychological forms and sensations in which Makoto frees his imagination and materializes it with the creation of an image trying to express the underground world of the unconscious and the alphabet of the signs of existence.

Art Curator Erika Gravante

Makoto Kimura

Departure from nothing

Makoto Kimura

The sea where pirates sink

Marcia Lorente Howell “I paint photographs I took from places I love. Reality isn’t real, I paint what it is beyond, what I see with my heart’s eye.” (Marcia Lorente Howell) Marcia Lorente Howell is a classically trained impressionist-expressionist painter. Raised in Madrid, she began painting the ocean since she was a child as a means to treasure her summers in Encinitas, Southern California, and Málaga, Spain. Once she moved to New York, Montauk and the beaches of Long Island have been an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Recalling the great works of artists such as Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso, the artist observes the natural environment with her own eyes, taking some photographs to best impress all the nuances of that landscape. Afterwards, she paints the work: to replenish the static nature of that image, Marcia is inspired by the works of Marc Chagall, drawing inspiration from her own fantasy and imagination, in a very personal style with a strong poetic vein and involving the world of dreams. Following the beauty of nature and the magic of the oneiric, the artist takes a journey in her introspection, in her deep feelings, catching the attention of the observer in her sensorial vision.

Everything she paints is a fantastic representation of reality, crossing all kinds of boundaries. In fact, in “Moonlight Beach” the artist depicts the Surfer Beach in the city of Encinitas. “I am a surfer, I paint the waves”: this is the key concept of this work, which best describes her artistic conception. The rapid brushstrokes, typical of the Impressionist style, fill the eyes of the observer, as if he were really admiring the Californian sunset. The viewer is widely involved in the work, and the artist invites him to dive into those magical waves, to perceive with his own skin the smell of salt and the scent of the sea in its wholeness. Letting yourself be rocked by the waves is one of the most beautiful sensations, and Marcia wants anyone who observes her work to be extremely immersed in the shades of the ocean. The sublime sensation of peace given by the bright and brilliant colors, the artist’s ability to capture the light fading into dreamlike visions, the light dynamism of the waves is able to warm and fill the observer’s heart, relaxing the senses and helping him to make a journey in his soul.

Art Curator Alessia Perone

Marcia Lorente Howell

Moonlight Beach

Maria Burberry

“Dreams” and “Magic Factor” are the two works through which the artist Maria Burberry participates at the international exhibition of “Fable”. The use of bright and vivid colors emphasizes her desire to communicate happiness and optimism, exploring new, mysterious and magical universes. In “Dreams”, while a fairy sleeps in the sky a second moon rises, a sign of the presence of a parallel dimension. This aspect recalls Haruki Murakami’s book “1Q84”, when Aomame suspects being the only person able to cross the thin barrier that divides the two worlds. The young woman lets herself be lulled by the wings of imagination, with the intention of crossing that boundary and reaching the realm of fantasy. The task of the observer is to fantasize with the mind and hover with the fairy, in order to admire the universe from an upper perspective. Thanks to creativity it is possible to overcome the laws of physics, dancing in the air far from reality. The fairy-tale and surreal elements, halfway between dream and magic, are emphasized through the use of chromatic nuances able to underline the purity and harmony of the representation. All this dreamlike fantasy is accompanied by a graceful sense of movement that enchants the user, eager to let go and curious to visit the world that is not there, just like in Peter Pan’s fable.

Maria Burberry

The great sweetness and delicacy in the choice of the subject becomes the symbol of an escape from everyday life, and the flight and lightness belong to this happy and carefree freedom. While in “Magic Factor” the artist depicts a woman resting. The large dress, reminiscent of Belle’s in “Beauty and the Beast”, is in stark contrast with the background of the painting, with that fiery red that warms and emphasizes the entire work. Even in this case the theme of magic is vivid: in fact, the young woman seems to be suspended in the air and next to her there is a star, like a sparkle, which symbolizes the presence of the fantastic element. Every shade is skillfully considered in each detail, bringing out both the immensity of the dress and that vortex of color behind the fairy.

The sinuous figure, elegance and elusive beauty is typical of a classy woman of the Belle Époque period: turning her gaze towards the spectator, the young woman appears proud and sure of her femininity. Starting from the Japanese literature, through fairy tales and magic, to fashion and art, the artist Maria Burberry manages to create a strong bond with every single aspect, immersing the observer in a fairytale and imaginary world.

Art Curator Alessia Perone

Maria Burberry

Dreams

Maria Burberry

Magic Factor

Marie Demiz

Marie Demiz is a Russian artist based in Sweden. Once again, she presents at MADS Milano art gallery two works. They are titled respectively “Dreamsome” and “Roar (earth conscious)” and already from titles you can guess their diversity, despite both coming from the imaginary world of Marie. The first, “Dreamsome”, is made in oil on a circular support and represents in the center the face of a woman. It is now known that women are the favorite subject of Demiz who always portrays them in a mysterious way. Here, however, the artist inserts a variant: the colors are brighter, less gloomy than her previous works, the background that surrounds the woman is made in an abstract way with fast and fluid brushstrokes. The light dominates, creating strong contrast with the bright colors such as green and red. The combination of abstract and figurative becomes more and more intense in Demiz’s works, which seems to have moved towards a more in-depth study of Abstractionism. The same abstract elements can be found in the second work on display, “Roar (earth conscious)”. The subject itself, a cheetah portrayed in profile with the jaws wide open, is made through rapid and circular brushstrokes of white, blue and black. The work is made in mixed media and you can also notice the use of collage. In fact, two writings appear, probably taken from a newspaper, one is positioned on the top left “recycle” and the other on the bottom right “Milano”, where MADS art gallery is located. On the one hand there is definitely a tribute to the city that hosts her work and on the other a clear message of protest: encourage recycling. The inscription “recycle” is connected to the scream of the cheetah begging the man to stop. He begs mercy. Marie Demiz wants to open the eyes of a society indifferent to the world and its conditions.

Art Curator Giorgia Massari

Marie Demiz

Spirit of the forest

Marie Demiz

Roar (earth conscious)

Marie Demiz

Dreamsome

MarioVaccaj <<mr WAVE>>

Hydrogena is the new digital painting by Italian artist MarioVaccaj <<mr WAVE>>. The artwork is accompanied by a futuristic and dystopian fable able to make the viewer digging into the artist’s insights and his correlated passion for physics, always present in his artistic expression. “Hydrogena” tells a story sets in 2050: humanity is now lost and humiliated because of its own greed and it’s about to be swept away from a ripple present in the ionosphere. Humanity is destined to pay its electro-mechanical faults, but thanks to a man with a futuristic insight and his quantum physics researches, where the speed of the gravitational wave’s propagation is faster than light (¥+¥+V^+H × M P N E (XYZ) = 0,01 m/s), “Hydrogena” was born: a futuristic woman machine able to activate and deactivate the matter, and to end consequently the human wickedness”. According to the artist, there’s no other interpretation of the artwork: it aims at criticising the human being’s attitude in its being avid, insatiable, always hungry of consuming and consequently guilty of destroying the precious planet we live in.

Therefore, the nightmarish scenario where the world is destined to collapse because of the mankind’s evilness will only be saved by this feminine creature born by the artist’s mind: Hydrogena. A cyborg woman with the incredible power of prevent the mankind from the terrible fate will vert to, by dissolving and re-combing the matter. The artwork represents a head’s silhouette of the woman, with its visible and colourful anatomy within.

The force of the robotic woman’s brain is the nerve centre of the painting, as the artist would like to points out that progress should evolve alongside a wise use of technology and science, while fighting hatred, inequality and avarice.

Art Curator Cecilia Terenzoni

MarioVaccaj <<mr WAVE>>

Hydrogena

Mark Noy “To be whole. To be complete. Wildness reminds us what it means to be human, what we are connected to rather than what we are separate from.” (Terry Tempest Williams)

The word “magician” originates from Old French “magicien” and from late Latin “magica”. The word “mago” (“magician” in Italian), find its originins in the Greek word, “magos”, meaning “wise”. In fact, this term was used to define Persian priests skilled in astrology, dream interpretation and arcane arts. During the Renaissance, after a long period of persecution against this figure, it is progressively re-evaluated and considered as something wonderful, capable of combining art, science and experimentation. It plays a fundamental role in fairy tales and stories, as well as becoming a source of inspiration for many artists. Mark Noy’s work, “Ancient Wisdom”, develops around this theme, guiding us in his vision of the world of magic. There is a young wizard, who decides to go into the forest in search of answers. After walking a long path, he comes across a huge tree, which sits in front of him, waiting to help him shed light on his doubts. The magician, symbol of wisdom, thus finds the source of his erudition in Nature. In the middle of the night, the forest becomes a place of peace and serenity, where you can find yourself and the answers you are looking for. Nature as a metaphor of antiquity and knowledge, a place from which we must not depart, but from which we can only learn.

Art Curator Francesca Brunello

Mark Noy

Ancient Wisdom

Masakazu Anai “A work of art expresses itself as a balance sheet pitting the spoken against the unspoke.” (Russel Sherman)

The expression of our soul through art is a peculiarity of the human being, the only animal species to carry out activities directed towards a search for creativity and aesthetic expression. It can be said that art in its broadest sense was born with the advent of man who, since the beginning, has expressed his feelings and his history.

Under the protective wing of the arts we find music and painting, two primordial forms of artistic experience with which man wanted to express what is inside, what is buried in his being. Painting as a two-dimensional transposition through pigments of the parent idea; music as the organization of sounds, silences and noises in the course of time and space. Both are born from a precise necessity, from the will of externalization and subsequent manifestation of something born from the inspiration of the human being. We can consider both arts as two entities that develop through the use of two distinct languages, belonging to two different fields of action. The one that finds its raison d’être in the drawing up of pigments, the other that through rhythm is manifested and shaped. Painting and music are perceived by the individual through two different sensory channels. Sight has the intrinsic ability to perceive the chromatic diversity of the pigments, their thickness and their materialization in abstract forms or derived from reality; hearing perceives sounds, noises and variations in rhythm and intensity.

Although characterized by different methods of use and language, music and painting have often in the history of mankind come together in creative dialogue.

Masakazu Anai

Masakazu Anai, artist and electronic musician by profession is with his art a meeting point between these two idioms, so different in their elaboration and fruition, so similar in expressing the unspeakable, the idea hidden behind the visible. Pigments crawled on the support, stains of color overlapping one on top of the other, a brilliant and striking color palette create Masakazuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s art. The single element of color is here placed in constant communication with what it has around it. The pictorial material and its different shades are known and understood in a constantly moving dialogue. There is rhythm, there is a certain measure within these works.

A time and a balanced harmony to be traced layer after layer, modification after modification. A strip of reddish pigment, imperturbable in its chromatic power and persuasion, dictates the rhythm of the composition giving meaning to the infinitesimal variations of colour to which the support is subjected. The defined and traceable, the strip of red pigment or a luminous swept circle are the cornerstones of the composition. Elements that subjugate the chromatic chaos and give definition and meaning to the many shades and layers of colour to which Masakazuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paintings are subjected. A chaotic and whirling world that finds its resolution and conclusion in those elements that, endowed with great chromatic power and sign, give measure to this colorful world.

Art Curator Lisa Galletti

Masakazu Anai

Custom

Masakazu Anai

Drop

Mauricio Siller Obregon “Every good composition is above all a work of abstraction.” (Diego Rivera) Mauricio Siller Obregón is a multidisciplinary Mexican artist: this meaning allows him to create interesting fusions between his colorful style and poetry. From his works emerge themes of a cosmological, fantastic and magical nature that dialogue with the natural and surrounding environment; everything blends perfectly with the key elements of Mexican artistic and social history. The artist emphasizes both classical and traditional forms, as well as a simple and linear avant-garde modernism, maintaining a creative, mythological and mysterious vein.

All these aspects are clear in his work presented for the international exhibition “Fable”. Recalling the famous murals made by the artist Diego Riviera, in the painting “La Noche” Mauricio represents a woman hovering in the air showing her youth, her beauty, in a universe full of stars, bright colors and cosmic energies. A powerful monumentality emerges, a plasticity of forms and a dynamism of all the elements depicted. The observer is struck by the precisions on how details are depicted, and he is invited to take part of the work itself, as well as to take flight with the woman, becoming part of the realm of fantasy. A beauty that, with its sensuality and femininity, enters in synergy with the whole atmosphere of the colored background, almost as if it was a rich palette at times surreal, representing a perfect harmony between the softness of the lines and the warm tones. In each section of the work there is an action or movement in the opposite direction and a fixed interval between these alternating movements. Mauricio Siller’s woman embodies, through a communicative, lively and expressive painting, the conception of the universe as a vibration of creative and positive energy, a rhythmic vital impulse that runs through the entire cosmos, uniting the earthly and the otherworldly, the human and the sacred, the macrocosm and the microcosm, the real and the imagination.

“Revolution is the harmony of form and color, and everything exists and moves under one law: life.” (Frida Kahlo)

Art Curator Alessia Perone

Mauricio Siller Obregon

La noche

Maxwell Roath â&#x20AC;&#x153;Each artist dips the brush into his soul, and paints his own nature in his images.â&#x20AC;?

(Henry Ward Beecher) The work proposed here is created by Maxwell Roath, an engraver from Colorado, and it conveys one of the most urgent issues related to environmental protection. More than a corner of paradise, the story told by the artist is more real than ever, and it carries a strong message that should touch the sensitive chords of all of us, so that we can partially reconstitute the marine flora and fauna. The work is a real window on the world, a world that we breathe every day and of which we should have more respect. At first glance, since it reflects a real question, the work seemed to me a realismâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heir. This work is part of a series of paintings on which the presence of the stone monoliths was constant and intended as a sign of the time. A time suspended over our heads, a time independent of our will, a time that existed, that exists and that will exist beyond human history. It is the time of nature, of life, of the earth from which we were born, on which we live now, and for which, perhaps, future generations will live. Nature has always existed, regardless of human existence. The presence of essential elements in this fantastic story, such as the sea, the sky, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the celestial stone, the mass of plastics in the sea and the enigmatic reading that ensued, reminded me of the metaphysical art of De Chirico. Both artists praise stories of existing places through suggestive shades, which charge the atmosphere of the story with a magical and enigmatic light, reflected in the absolute silence of these vital windows. The realism proposed here is a magical realism, full of color and mystery of a vision that, as in many fairy tales, hopefully has a happy ending.

Art Curator Alessia di Martino

Maxwell Roath

Sighting #3: Great Pacific Garbage Patch, 38.0000° N, -145.0000° W

Maya Beck “My work should show joy and be full of love!” (Maya Beck)

This is how Maya Beck defines her works, a riot of love and joy. She was inspired from an early age by her feelings, by the most hidden and intimate emotions. For Maya, art is a form of communication and direct expression; the way she uses colors as a verb to express emotions combined with strong lines, is simple. For her it is a moment of freedom and connection with herself: art is love at 360 degrees. Self-taught artist, Maya began working with abstract art and then she decided to approach a more subjective and figurative art, primordial, more emotional and individualistic, that best represents her and distinguishes her from current artists. Drawing allows you to give space to the emotional world and the thoughts that are often difficult to communicate verbally.

Maya think that art does not tell about life, but about the experience of life, which is much more tangled and complex; from her works you can perceive a sense of positivity and desire to live in harmony with everything that surrounds her: her motto is “LOVE IS FOR EVERYBODY”. In her portraits of real or invented characters made on sheets of paper with mixed media (usually acrylic, pen and watercolors) -, Maya represents moments of life that leave the viewer in front of a free interpretation of what the subject wants to express and communicate.

“I stay in the sun not so much to take portraits in bright light, but to warm up and observe. So, by dint of seeing the outside, I ended up noticing only the great harmonies without worrying about the small details that extinguish the sun instead of inflaming it.” (Pierre-Auguste Renoir)

Art Curator Maria Cristina Bianchi

Maya Beck

ALESSIA

Maya Beck

ALESSIO

Maya Beck

MARIONETTE

Maya Beck

SEAROSE

Maya Beck

TWENTIES

Monika Belinová “For me, art is make-believe. It’s enchantment. It’s a fable. I’m enjoying that and playing with it.

Of course it’s serious, and art is serious, but I’m not going to rarefy it.” (Shea Hembrey)

Monika Belinová was born in Žilina, Slovakia in 1990.She studied propagation graphics at the Ružomberok School of Applied Art. Then the teaching and teaching of fine arts at the Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica.

She currently lives in Ružomberok and works as a teacher in a private art school.Art is her way of speaking, her voice. Through drawing and painting she communicates her inner world to others.Her works identify a search for a soul on a journey, looking for evolution where life provides joys and annoyances to deal with, answering one’s questions where nature, mother of inspiration for her, is the background.In “Space fox” the fox is not only a significant symbol in the fable, but also in Slavic mythology, and this is one of the reasons why it is important in her personal and individual iconography. The background of the painting is created in an expressive, spontaneous way and the choice of colors is very intuitive.

Monika Belinová

It represents chaos. The foxy’s shape represents her subconscious in an attempt to heal her inner turmoil and soothe the little girl in her.In the work “Betta - Warrior Fish” the image was created for the purpose of selftherapy. The background lines are created by ink and markers and are not visible in the image at first sight. As in many situations in life, a closer and longer look is required. The round segments evoke the lightness and spontaneity of the watercourse. It is a metaphor for his life at the time, but it is also the result of an effort to engage the mind, a form of meditation. A fish was added as a characteristic symbol, in which he used a different technique, as if the aquatic animal did not adapt to the environment, summarizing its situation. The fish is protected by a rough, thick line and a golden mask where it stands static with the irrepressible desire to move.

Like a fairy tale, Monika’s tales are full of enchantment, full of extraordinary inner adventures that will lead us to a moment of introspection.

Art Curator Erika Gravante

Monika BelinovaĚ

Space fox

Monika BelinovaĚ

Warrior fish

Motoo Saito “I take my camera everywhere I go. Having a new film to develop, gives me a good reason to wake up in the morning.” (Andy Warhol)

A dip in beauty. Browsing through the works of the Japanese artist Motoo Saito, immediately gives you the feeling of being catapulted into a distant yet so familiar world. The power of the colors that the artist uses is the protagonist of his masterpieces. Motoo Saito began to devote himself to the world of photography - and later, in adulthood, to digital painting - after leaving the company in which he worked.The fusion between the passion for traveling and the art of photography, gave rise to his art, something to be discovered that manages to trap the viewer in a whirlwind of emotion and unique sensations. He has gone on, year after year, to improve himself until being able to capture the essence of that “floating world” where every single detail composes the lines of a poem that aims to involve the viewer at 360 degrees. His works recall the most abstract cubism, the dreamlike images of Mirò and the “scribbles” of Kandinsky. The works are then reproduced on different supports giving life to the finished piece. Motoo Saito’s digital elaborations are placed in an abstract research field, starting from an objective reality, in which the iteration of lines and colors creates an energy of strong vitality. They are compositions where the visual symbol induces a free and pure expressiveness, in a harmony of evident lyrical sensitivity.

“To photograph is to recognize at the same instant and in a fraction of a second an event and the rigorous arrangement of the forms perceived with the gaze that express and signify this event. It is putting the mind, the eyes and the heart on the same line. It’s a way of life.” (Henri Cartier-Bresson)

Art Curator Maria Cristina Bianchi

Motoo Saito

Fusion

Motoo Saito

Pleasure V.I.

Motoo Saito

Pleasure V.II.

Motoo Saito

Pleasure V.III.

Motoo Saito

Talk

Niko aka Dionyss “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” (Lao Tzu) Niko is a young German artist and he began his work as a photographer in 2018 when he received a camera as a gift from his uncle, hence his growing interest for the manipulation of images through dedicated softwares: with regards to the subjects, the artist focuses his attention on the exploration of nature, landscapes and animals.In his photographic shots, the attention to details, the use of imaginary elements, the images taken from different backgrounds and the strong contrasting colours are all aspects to stimulate the observer’s curiosity in noticing the magic of those places that too often we do not necessarily contemplate and value.He didn’t seem to have that special curiosity that you still have as a child. He is sure that it is not just him that things are taken for granted in everyday life. Be it trees, water or animals. These things seem to lose their magic as you get older. You have seen them a thousand times and that’s why they become something natural/normal. But nothing that surrounds us can be taken for granted! The nature motifs are only an allegory. The intent to testify can also be applied to other things, such as friends and family. With his pictures he wants to rekindle the enthusiasm he was talking about.Enchanted by this splendid vision, Niko manages to put us in tune with nature and we understand that this wonder is totally free, at our disposal and we could use it to find new stimuli in our life.We should learn day by day to cultivate this appreciation and to feed daily the attention to this bond, within the world around us nothing is taken for granted, banal and obvious, as there is always something to learn, especially from science and nature that surrounds us. Through this nocturnal animal, the artist tries to create a path to his fairy tale, a magic in search of natural beauty where nothing but nothing can be taken for granted.

Art Curator Erika Gravante

Niko aka Dionyss

Bist du?

Nina Enger The artist Nina Enger is passionate and inspired by many elements of everyday life, but among all of them, the love for nature certainly stands out. Through her works, Nina succeeds in emphasizing both the environment and its surroundings as well as a mysterious and fantastic aspect, exclusively linked to the realm of imagination and enchantment. Her art creates a connection between the vital needs of each individual and the spiritual interiority of a human being overwhelmed by the need to unveil his soul. The freedom of imagination is vigorously unleashed in her paintings, showing how much this is part in one’s own soul. That disruptive creative force induces an act aimed at representing in various forms the sensations that are extrapolated directly from the subconscious. The artist allows the observer to get access to the depths of a parallel universe in a completely original way, without limits or constraints, bringing out his feelings, represented in different forms, and the mood of those who want to give the world his most remote emotions. As in the canvas “Anticipation”, a child, who could represent the future, observes the clouds in ecstasy as they branch out to make room for a beam of light.

The surrounding atmosphere gives peace and serenity, while the contemplation of the little character remains so pure and delicate. While in “Awe”, a young woman appears on the edge of a promontory while screaming her freedom, waving a stole. She desires to get free into the sky and merge with all the atmosphere that place transmits, on the brink between land and infinity. Finally, in “Earth rising”, a mother and her son pass through the door of another dimension, undertaking a long journey to discover the realm of fantasy. All the sweetness and maternal love emerge from the picture, in a jubilation of magical situations and unknowns. The depth and atmosphere of light peep out from these three works, through dark clouds, filling the soul of the observer. The artist wishes to convey a key message: to be able to get access to one’s inner soul, beyond the darkness and those insurmountable boundaries, and reach that absolute peace without struggles and difficulties.

Art Curator Alessia Perone

Nina Enger

Earth Rising

Nina Enger

Anticipation

Nina Enger

Awe

Oana-Teodora Iorga

Oana-Teodora Iorga paints a galaxy. “My work speaks about the beauty of the universe”, she says, adding that the painting is supposed to put the viewer in a contemplative state. Just like the mind loses itself following the greatness of space, so our eyes are sucked into the vortex of the piece. The nebulous colours create a soft, mysterious landscape, tender like a fairytale. Hidden within the nebula are mysteries waiting to be discovered, like fairies living behind a constant mist protecting their secrets. All stories began with the Universe. Before anything else, there was the emptiness of Space, the absolute Void, till something sparked and Life exploded.

Without it, sans the first great explosion, there would not be a universe, nor Earth or humans; there would not be life and, above all, there would not be stories. We carry pieces of the universe inside us. We are made of stars, we have them in our blood and bones, and we host small galaxies in our minds. When we begin our stories, in our minds is the same explosion that pushed the Universe into motion. Fairytales always commence with a “Once upon a time” and we could say the very first-ever “Once upon a time” happened with the Big Bang. Given its intrinsic mystery, the Universe also feeds into humanity’s drive and need to create stories about their surrounding.

Stories are born from questions. When they could not find an answer, men invented them. Questions like why there is the night and the day, why there are the stars and the Moon. The first fables are rooted in legends. Thus the moon can be a princess and the stars her maids, or a lock of hair can become a constellation, and the Milky Way a river between two star-crossed lovers.

Art Curator Guendalina Cilli

Oana-Teodora Iorga

Galaxy Signs

Octa Dwi Anggraini “I believe in the future resolution of these two states, dream and reality, which are seemingly so contradictory, into a kind of absolute reality, a surreality, if one may so speak.” (André Breton, Manifestoes of Surrealism)

Surrealism is an avant-garde artistic movement that was born in Paris in the ‘20s of the twentieth century. Its main theorist is André Breton, who, influenced by Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams, decides to give space to the unconscious and the dream, still so little analyzed in modern times. Since then, great artists have marked the history of art and are now a source of inspiration for young minds. In Tada’s work, the influence of Surrealism is evident. The figures are well described in details. The represented subject goes far beyond reality, examining aspects that can be traced back to a personal analysis of the unconscious. A relaxed female body with its back to us. A plant is growing on her left knee and under her feet two eyes look at us. In place of the head, a flower, which seems to be looking in the direction of a mirror. The reflected image is that of a young woman who, with a dagger stuck in her left shoulder, is collecting her blood inside a cup. As in a dream, nothing seems to follow a logic. There are many details that stimulate our gaze. The brain placed on the ground to the left, could suggest the abandonment of reason. This, on the other hand, was the goal of Surrealism. Dig inside yourself, in search of an unfiltered truth.

Art Curator Francesca Brunello

Octa Dwi Anggraini

Sappy Place

Odagawa Fumiya “Everyone has a fairy tale inside that he cannot read alone.” (Pablo Neruda)

Oneiric places, shapes with indefinite contours and backgrounds. Elements of reality poised between the world of reality and the world of dreams. A house, a horse, two girls. Ordinary elements, peculiar to our daily reality, acquire a magical halo in Fumiya’s paintings. The mysterious emerges from the visible and from the usual, giving the elements improbably liquefied contours, backgrounds with acid tones and deformed physiognomies, subjugated to a certain destiny of mutation. There is darkness in Fumiya’s paintings. Dark, impenetrable forests, with their harsh colours, plummet over man and any work he has built. Flints, centuries-old pines, oaks take over every visible element, flooding the visual field with a gloomy and gloomy presentiment. Although nature is taking over, human activity is always recognizable. It does not get stuck in front of the dark and indefinite, the vision of a place without light. It is there, present in the little houses identifiable among the vegetation, in that horse so tame that it is probably a friend of man; it is embodied in the figures of the two girls who, in spite of the length and uncomfortableness of their clothes, make space among the spreading vegetation to reach the muddy shore of the pond in the foreground. Yet the reflection of the girl on the surface of the water is not defined at all. The contours are lost, the face is erased and the reflected physiognomy is reduced to a few strokes of light colour.

Odagawa Fumiya

Does nature no longer recognise the human being as an integral part of it? Or is it the human being who has lost - by his will - the ancestral connection with his generating mother? The universe of Fumiya is fairy and dreamlike. Translated into lysergic tones it is constructed, layer after layer by liquefied and malleable forms. In its representation and conformation it wields the legacy of the narrative repertoire of short stories of western tradition. An infinite baggage of clues and clues that can be seen in the presence of elements that blatantly recall the fairytale world. The horse, the little house in the woods, the two girls entering the forest, the small pond that - it should - reflects the physiognomy of the person reflected in the mirror. And yet, Fumiya shapes this world with his hands, breaks it down and reconstructs it according to his intentions, deforms it and saturates it to the improbable to bring it closer to his inner sensitivity. Munch’s echo can be heard explicitly in the soft, almost loose, yielding but consistent contours and in the chromatic palette which, extremely strident in tone, also recalls the acid and abrupt colour of Bonnard’s and Nabis’ paintings. The fairytale world of Fumiya is a personal world which, while having explicit connections with the Western fairytale tradition, is resolved in an aesthetic of its own, in a sense of things that reverberates the artist’s soul and feeling.

Art Curator Lisa Galletti

Odagawa Fumiya

Waterside house

Odagawa Fumiya

Backyard

Paal Bugen Paal Bugen is a Norwegian artist, based in Oslo and Luxembourg. His art, strongly connected with his work as Head of Equities in a Norwegian Bank, after the crisis dictated by the emergency Covid-19 completely changes style. He is interested in showing people’s feelings, to bring on canvas mystery and tell stories. The series presented at the exhibition “Fable” organized by the MADS gallery, is entitled “Heaven and Hell”. This series of pictures express different types of feelings derived from this crisis. First of all, the work “The Abyss” shows a feeling common to all in this situation: bewilderment. It is as if the world we used to know is crumbling, the certainties become uncertainties and the ground below us begins to falter, until it collapses. The work in fact shows people plunging into the abyss, into the abyss of uncertainty and precariousness. The strong red background emphasizes even more the feeling of terror that many people are experiencing today. The loss of loved ones, the loss of work or the simple everyday life. The paintings titled “Ancestors” and “Marilyn” instead are connected in a special way with the crisis that we are living today: they change their appearance the further you get away. At a distance of one meter the picture will be different than if you look at it from 3 or 5 meters away. This is related to the social distancing that we are subjected to in order to prevent the spread of the virus. This aspect wants to give a message of hope to people: the distance is not always something that divides but on the contrary, can make us perceive the beauty of people, make us realize their importance and beauty, as it happens in admiring the paintings of Bugen. Both works, apparently abstract, hide, amongst the decided brushstrokes and human faces. The further you move, the more faces appear on the canvas. “Ancestors” and “Marilyn” are paintings that belong more to the “Heaven” sphere of the series. The first is in fact an introspective journey within ourselves and our origins. If we are here today it is thanks to all our ancestors, their lives and their experiences. The work expresses a message of union and brotherhood among men. We are all on the same earth and we all derive from a single progenitor. The same positive value is contained in the work “Marilyn” in which a sweet blue background, just as if it were paradise, welcomes all the greatest who left us at a young age. First of all, we see Marilyn Monroe in the middle with her red lips. But the further you go, the sharper the face represented in the center of the canvas becomes and that occupies almost the entire composition. This factor gives a great sense of mystery to the work. In fact it is as if the canvas held within itself countless ghosts, some visible and others of which you can barely see the presence. Therefore, Paal Bugen, through his apparently abstract art, wants to communicate important social messages, especially connected to the crisis that the whole world is going through today. The sensitivity and genius is clearly perceptible in the parallels between the imposition of governments, to maintain a social distance and the distance that his art involuntarily imposes on viewers.

Art Curator Giorgia Massari

Paal Bugen

Ancestors

Paal Bugen

Marilyn

Paal Bugen

The Abyss

Pamella Dickey

Pamella Dickey is an artist who loves all forms of art, appreciating all types of colors, textures and movement. Her source of inspiration comes from her travels, family and nature, expressing emotions and moods in the best possible way. Even if her works can be linked to the Abstractionism’s movement, a strong surrealist charge emerges, which strikes the observer and draws him inside the paintings, in that sensory vortex composed by chromatic nuances, pictorial density and mysterious atmosphere.

Moreover, one can notice a close approach to Jackson Pollock’s typical artistic conception: in fact, even Pamella paints by standing above her canvases lying on the ground, using any kind of instrument to create new shades and numerous material consistencies. Crucial is the emancipation of the work from any transcendent bond, where the pivotal center of the painting is the plot, which emerges predominantly from the canvas. With her brushstrokes, Pamella creates contrasting lights and shapes: in this way, her style manifests herself through the intensity and dynamism of her traits. All this can be seen in the three works presented at the Fable exhibition. First of all, “Dancing in a New Place” appears as a lyrical composition in which each part of the painting is balanced both in signs and movements. There is a continuous dynamism, almost as if it was a dance. The canvas expresses the gradation and complexity of the relationship between the way the work itself is created and the viewer’s gaze.

Therefore, this is a spontaneous and incisive painting, with a precise awareness of each brushstroke and of its positioning inside the painting. While in Star Lights Night the different use of the pictorial material allows the artist to express different moods and to construct a choreography of action that takes a clear role on the canvas. The energy that comes from it, brings out all the concentration and determination; this union takes the work into a subtle boundary between the figurative and the abstract. By succeeding in impressing her subconscious, Pamella seems to go back to the origin of the creation of the painting to emphasize a strong gestural and dynamic charge. Finally, “Starting Over” is an energetic and vital representation through which the artist blends the different colors randomly, generating different thicknesses over the painting. The material attracts the viewer, who becomes the protagonist in this internal overturning of the painting which itself overcomes its limit.

Art Curator Alessia Perone

Pamella Dickey

Dancing in a New Place

Pamella Dickey

Star Lights Night

Pamella Dickey

Starting Over

Paula Rocha

Paula Rocha is a Portuguese artist, she started painting when she was 18 years old, but especially during recent lockdown, she has the possibility to study Abstract art. She presents at MADS Milano art gallery three Abstract works through which she expresses her feelings. In her works there is a great emotional charge, as if all her strength were released within her canvases. Undoubtedly the artist refers to the teachings of Jackson Pollock, inspired by dripping technique in the realization of the work entitled “CHAOS”. The composition is apparently chaotic and messy, as indicated by the title, but at a second glance you can notice a pattern: a series of oblique lines converge in the center and a second layer is formed by vertical lines. The chaos is certainly determined also by the great variety of colours that the artist uses, but in which prevails blue, color of calm. This work therefore highlights a paradox, contrasts chaos and order in a single canvas. This means that no matter how messy, senseless things seem to us, everything happens for a reason, everything is ruled by a higher force.

Similar is the composition of the work entitled “FUTURE” in which red and white splashes go bump in a black background. The canvas expresses a strong drama, probably dictated by the vision of the future that awaits us.

The composition of the work entitled “STORM” is more gestural and material. Here the artist does not use dripping but small brush strokes of color. The colors overlap creating layers, resulting in relief. Once again Rocha chooses to use a wide range of colors, seeking harmony. The artist releases strong emotions through her gestures and the choice of colors that instinctively create a strong visual impact.

“I paint things the way I imagine, not the way I see them.” (Pablo Picasso)

Art Curator Giorgia Massari

Paula Rocha

FUTURE

Paula Rocha

CHAOS

Paula Rocha

STORM

Philip Kanwischer “The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” (John Muir)

The photographic research of Philip Kanwischer, Canadian artist, sees its focus on the relationship between man and nature. A theme developed by many artists, philosophers, poets, in the most disparate ways. In particular, his work focuses on the relationship of man with animals. What kind of relationship exists between us and animals belonging to wildlife? In a distant time, we were inextricably linked. Later, this world became a source of exploitation for selfish well-being, moving us away from our origins. His, is a very deep and personal investigation. In fact, many of his works are self-portraits. Thanks to a photomontage technique, which he calls “photo bonding”, he generates a relationship by placing his body in close proximity to wild animals. A relationship that, in reality, is often feared or problematic. In his photographs we meet foxes, wolves, bears, elk and many others. Philip places them, with nobility and delicacy, in close contact with himself, developing, in a visual realism, an almost surreal world. The physical presence of man in these settings is no longer annoying or dangerous, on the contrary, it becomes invisible and light. It is no longer intrusive, but it is about bond and similarity. This physical contact becomes communication and tells of a mutual understanding. Images that want to remind us how important it is not to forget who we are.

Art Curator Francesca Brunello

Philip Kanwischer

Beguiled

Philip Kanwischer

Clutch

Philip Kanwischer

Nurture

Rakhila Bernikova “It is the mainspring of life, courage. And courage has many faces.” (Oriana Fallaci) The works of Rakhila Bernikova introduce a thematic which is extremely important in nowadays society: the role of women which, fortunately, has changed significantly and for better. For the artist, indeed, they are the epitome of strength, love, sensuality and sacrifice. According to Rakhila Bernikova, her art has an important goal: to show the femmine power in a way that it expresses not only beauty but, mostly, courage. In the present days, indeed, although we live in the 21st century, sometimes, it takes a lot of bravery for women to claim their own rights. Women victims of violence, for instance, are sometimes reticent to talk about their situation out of shame, for fear that their partner will find out, for fear of not being believed or because they think it is their fault. The artist wishes to deliver the message that it is important that women feel comfortable and safe in opening up, that they encounter a non-judgmental attitude on the other side. For this reason, Rakhila Bernikova, in her artwork “Phantasia”, depicts two women that do not fear being naked and showing themselves and their body to the viewer. Nevertheless, they wear a mask not revealing their own identity. The mask symbolizes an hidden world, the deepest part of ourselves that cannot be seen by anyone except by us. The artist wants to claim that, behind an apparently perfect and sensual body of a women, there is so much more to discover. It can hide so much of fragility and at the same time a lot of strength and courage. As regards the style of the artwork, the artist uses acrylic paint and pallet knife as tools to create her strong, wild femmine and expressive women. The woman’s body as an aesthetic simulacrum, as the center of media attention, as exposure and demand for certain aesthetic canons, is central in our current communities, and this perhaps increases aesthetic concerns and the desire to resemble ideal models. The artist, instead, through her artwork “Phantasia”, wishes to rebel against the system, representing two perfect bodies but letting it be understood that the true nature of a woman is hidden behind a mask, in the interior of their being.

“Bodies have their own light which they consume to live: they burn, they are not lit from the outside.” (Egon Schiele)

Art Curator Lorenza Traina

Rakhila Bernikova

Phantasia

Rand Masa’deh “Art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it makes visible.” (Paul Klee) The Jordanian mixed media and abstract artist with “Hot-Blooded” presents a work whose deep meaning makes you fully understand Rand’s strong personality. A volcano, fascinating but dangerous at the same time, after being observed in silence for a long time, revives and changes everything around it forever. Symbol of greatness and destruction, of charm and evil power. The young artist’s story is told by the work through a metaphor: a prosperous, bewitching but at the same time unpredictable woman perfectly embodies one of the most enchanting natural elements: a volcano. The body of the subject is sky blue and both the arms and the face are turned upwards as a sign of liberation. The colors of the work are bright and contrasting, but at the same time create a perfect chromatic balance. The volcano’s lava envelops the body from the torso down in a vortex that, passing invisibly inside the body, comes out of the mouth in all its impetuousness. The movement of the “hot blooded” is created by the succession of circular strokes of different colors: yellow, red, white, and sometimes blue, as if the body had given up some part of itself. Colors have great significance for Rand: blue, symbol of serenity and balance contrast with the red of passion and the yellow of madness. The black background makes it seem that the figure comes out of the canvas going towards the viewer and taking him part in what is happening around.

The work is the mirror of a story that tells of a strong feeling that, when it deeply touches our soul, gives life to an encounter between ungovernable passion and the inspiration that brings great things into the world. Rand, a talented artist with great creativity, transforms her inspirations into works that, through colors and shapes, communicate her magical and precious inner world.

Art Curator Camilla Gilardi

Rand Masaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;deh

Hot-blooded

Rick Gillihan “The river taught me to listen, and you too will learn from him. He knows everything, the river, everything can be learned from him. You see, you have already learned this from the water, that it is good to descend, to stretch down, look for the deep.” (Herman Hesse) When we meet Rick’s artistic work, surely, we give a lot of importance to observation, we try to capture the details in detail, in fact he cuts out a small portion of nature and gives it to us. From his shots you can hear the sound of running water, and if you pay particular attention, you can smell the damp earth. Therefore, if on the one hand we are called to open our eyes well and look at the image, in the same way it is natural for us to open the doors of all our senses and savor the work to the full. The viewer’s imagination is added to the observation, Rick leaves us, with his works, a thousand worlds to discover, infinite stories to tell, his work frees itself from any scheme to leave full freedom of interpretation. The waters immortalized by Rick are transformed into secret passages for enchanted worlds, fantastic and magical places. Rick teaches us to look deeply, never to dwell on the surface of things, beyond what we see there is more, only attentive and sensitive eyes can cross the threshold of reality and enjoy unique panoramas. We have always listened to fairy tales set in places in direct contact with nature, contemporary people finds benefit in it and imagining stories and characters who live in it, makes us rediscover the enthusiasm of when we were children. Fantasy and detachment from everyday life plays an important role in the life of modern man, getting lost in Rick’s works is certainly a great gift. “Once the beings of the water were in contact, they advised us, they talked to us about the future [...]” this is how the film “Lady in the water” begins, it would be nice to have the wisdom of fairy tales and worlds that creates. Rick’s photographs are the bridges that lead us to the aquatic worlds, where maybe we could meet a Narf as happens in the Shyamalan film.

Art Curator Vanessa Viti

Rick Gillihan

Secret Fairyworld Passageway

Rick Gillihan

Summer Circles

Rick Gillihan

A Persistent Purple Rain

Rick Gillihan

Magical Greenery

Rick Gillihan

Lost Triangle

Ruth Taylor â&#x20AC;&#x153;I remember feeling that pieces of me were scattered around the world; I belonged to her, Mother Earth.â&#x20AC;? (Raquel Cepeda)

Mother Nature, also known as Mother Earth, is a timeless and very common subject in art. The female figure as a generator of life and nourishment for her children, has been associated with nature from the earliest times.

The connection with the goddesses venerated in prehistoric times is immediate, due to fertility and agricultural abundance, such as the Egyptian goddess Isis or the deities of the classical period such as Demeter and Hera.

Usually represented as a timeless woman, she is the essence of all things and the absolute creator. Ruth makes this knowledge the main source for her artistic research. In her paintings, Mother Nature shows herself as a beautiful woman, ruler of seas, rivers and mountains. Her body emerges proudly from the waters and the turf descends, rich in sap, along her back. From her eyes the stars are born, while on her head, a thick vegetation grows. Her determined gaze makes her a strong woman, but at the same time a giver of love and peace. An ancient personification that has remained over time, which makes us understand how important and strong the connection between Man and Nature is.

Art Curator Francesca Brunello

Ruth Taylor

Humboldt Girl II

Ruth Taylor

Humboldt Girl IV

Ruth Taylor

Humboldt Girl

Sarah Jones “Create your own visual style... let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others.”

(Orson Welles)

“Communicate”, from the Latin “communicare”, means “to share”, involving others in something. This is what Sarah Jones does. Her art accompanies us within her story and her vision of the world. Her paintings are not unrelated to each other, they seem to be part of a long storytelling that embraces and studies human sentiment, in relation to the world and to oneself. Starting from an inner analysis, Sarah lets the color slide on the canvas, giving life to real characters that show themselves overwhelmed by their emotions. Each of them seeks comfort in a second presence, someone who can help them, but who is not always there. Loneliness is an important theme in Sarah’s art and is analyzed from several points of view: love and its disappointments and the insecurity this can cause, the fear of being alone in the search for one’s own path. She tells us these stories through a style with clear references to the artistic current of the Expressionism. The forms do not follow a real proportion, but develop in space without precise rules. Almost asexual figures with intense colors, hugging and writhing in their worries. The choice of color and its arrangement on the canvas also convey instability and anguish. The large backgrounds alternate with bands, where the pigments mix together creating unexpected shades. One of the greatest goals of art and the artist, is to be able to transmit new visions and expand the boundaries of the mind.

It seems strange that an artwork could tell so much. How it can convey such different sensations and emotions in a small space. This is what Sarah does. She communicates herself through art.

Art Curator Francesca Brunello

Sarah Jones

A little piece of heaven

Sarah Jones

Learning to fly

Sarah Jones

You promised me a rose garden

Sarah Rashidi Natural elements, bones, tree branches and a skull make Sarah Rashidi’s work a masterpiece with multiple sensations. An intrinsic mystery that triggers in an occult world of energies. The art of using bones, here understood in a general sense, as creative material, has a very ancient ancestral origin that we find in all cultures; we think of pre-Columbian, Indian and Christian art, all linked to the mystery and the cult of death. We are not only talking about the skulls, which are still very much present in our culture at an iconographic level, but also about the fractionation of the skeletal apparatus and its recomposition in forms that surpass the idea of disintegration.

This is an ancient custom, which survives among the non-civilized populations and which has had a great development from prehistory to our Baroque, period in which the triumph of life and death led to the decorative transformation of human remains or animal carcasses. Japanese artist Hideki Tokushige, known worldwide as Honebana, makes flowers using the bones of small rodents. Flowers, he explains, since ancient times, honored the deceased and at the same time constituted an eternal action. The idea of using the bones of an animal to make small floral triumphs came to the artist one evening, returning home, when he came across the carcass of a raccoon. Cervantes, in the XXXVIII chapter of the second part of Don Quijote writes these verses where the head appears, covered by a helmet, of a “smiling skeleton”. He describes the pleasure of death, understood as reactivation of the senses, in the paradoxical culmination of the pain of the loss of life, which seems to be able to bring the subject back to the center of it. In the work of the Iranian artist Sarah Rashidi, as in an admirable game of missing mirrors, the different forms of the sublime converge, coexist and are proposed in the range of their shades. Here the artist brings together the social and artistic dimension of the origins, which it draws for use and symbolic representations. A work with a very powerful meaning, a unique piece with a story and a soul.

Art Curator Federica D’Avanzo

Sarah Rashidi

Transmutation

Sea Choi The artistic production of the artist Sea Choi tells life in all its nuances. Through her art, he enters the deepest and most intimate nature of something special and unique that unites all of us: Love and Hope, but above all the freedom to be and to exist as people free from any form of conditioning. A painting that prefers the use of acrylic colors to create simple compositions with a great visual impact and in which every moment is contemplated as something unique on which to stop, reflect and meditate. Thus, Love is told through the good and simple manners of a kind man who takes care of himself through a simple gesture, of great charm and beauty. Love for oneself is the basis of everything. The art of Sea Choi underlines the importance of “Being” instead of “Existing” through the extreme elegance of the pictorial gesture through colored backgrounds on pictorial canvases that reveal a deep and sensitive soul attentive to discovery and knowledge of the beauty that surrounds us, full of magic, poetry, expectation, hope and celebrated through the most intimate enhancement of one’s inner self. An Art, that of Sea Choi that nourishes life and its many aspects. Suspended moments, color, simplicity tell the story of the young emerging artist with a unique and precious talent. Simple images taken from everyday life embellished by a chromatic language with a strong communicative impact. Painting beauty, enhancing it, narrating it brings with it something very important, the role of an artist as a spokesperson for a narrative sensitivity of the world to which she belongs and which thanks to her art gives us a testimony of an iconographic story visible to all . A moment that concerns only us, no one excluded, a story that unites us and helps us to observe everything that surrounds us in a different way. With the hope of always being ourselves, with the strength to preserve our real authenticity, with the awareness that through the art of Sea Choi we can take on a new and wonderful outlook on the world.

Art Curator Giulia Zanesi

Sea Choi

Untitled

Sea Choi

Untitled

Sea Choi

Gentle Man

Snježana Boyd - Žana “A painting for me is a surface covered with representations of objects, animals, human forms, in a certain area where logic and illustration have no importance. Perhaps, there is a mysterious fourth or fifth dimension which, intuitively, creates a balance of plastic and psychic contrasts by striking the eye of the viewer through new and unusual conceptions.” (Marc Chagall)

For the exhibition “Fable” at the M.A.D.S. gallery, Snježana Boyd - Žana presents a new and unpublished work: in “Playground of Dreams” the artist was completely inspired by the concept of the event. Going beyond appearances and keeping enthusiasm alive, through this painting art becomes the medium between reality and fantasy. The painting is loaded with imaginary elements that take shape in a surreal world, as if it was a plunge into the artist’s subconscious.

Looking into the depths of the soul and of the human mind, Žana evokes the completeness of creation based on opposites: light and darkness, good and evil, bright colors and a black background. The alchemy of opposites helps to compose a multidimensional space, where every aspect blend to create a universe that involves the user, opening the doors to the realm of fantasy. By creating perceptive and sensory images, the imaginary world of Žana is open to anyone who wants to fantasize and travel in their dreams, immersing themselves in a compelling and intriguing story that gives free rein to desires and fantasies. The observation of this work generates amazement, and the observer is eft enchanted: at this moment the playful aspect typical of childhood and has now been lost with the maturity ages. Suddenly, between wonder and illusion, you can see a magical creature, like the dragon, playing with a princess. The animal watches over and imprisons our dreams in a remote castle, but the maiden helps him to forget his malice and invites him to have fun. There is no gravity, no negative thought, no pain that is not softened and erased, to leave room at imagination and carefreeness. Through the choice of bright and brilliant colors the artist communicates happiness and optimism, to the point of evoking life, dynamism and satisfaction. The perception of humanity is evident: a universal, intimate and delicate message, a poetic essential to live and admire the beauty of art and the fairytale world. The observer has the opportunity to fly over the wings of fantasy and to undertake a path of positive emotions and fun.

“Knowledge is limited, imagination embraces the world.” (Albert Einstein)

Art Curator Alessia Perone

Snježana Boyd - Žana

Playground of dreams

Snjezana Cirkovic

In her paintings Snježana Ćirković explores her inner self and her feelings through the use of color, in an exciting journey into the hidden corners of her soul. Despite the difference between the two styles, the leading role attributed to colors brings her artistic vision closer to the one of Marc Chagall. In the artworks of the Belorussian born French painter the lively use of color highlights the emotional resonances and symbolism of the depicted scenes. Color pervades the whole canvas not respecting the boundaries of figures; the palette does not accurately describe tones of reality but represents the mood of the painter. Similarly, in Snježana’s works the absence of dividing lines between the colors, which are fused together on the canvas meticulously respecting chromatic accords, conveys the artist’s outlook on life and her feelings. In Enchanted Forest, her pictorial style wears the chromatic tones of fable, accurately selected by the artist to interpret the concept of this exhibition.

The viewer is therefore called to go through this mysterious forest, a metaphor used by Snježana to describe the magical universe of our mind. He makes his way through the unknown meanders of one’s self, symbolized by the dark tone of purple.

Snjezana Cirkovic

However, when the darkness seems to take possession of him, the power of imagination, represented on the canvas by yellow color, is what allows him to find his way inside the enchanted forest. My Mind is My Wonderland, with its evocative title, proposes again a comparison between the artist’s mind and a mysterious and magic wonderland. A fantastic universe where the painter’s thoughts come to life and chase themselves making a colorful harmony comparable to a kind of joyful dance. The use of color, sometimes spread with large and scratched strokes, other times through rapid touches, immerges the viewer in a fairytale atmosphere, evoked not only by tones but also by presence of elements like the vortexes. Often associated with passages in time, they are recurrent elements in fable, but, in this painting, they become also a symbol, a metaphorical connection between the different but intertwined layers of the artist’s mind. With her canvas Snježana gives us the possibility to immerse ourselves in her fantastic mental universe and be involved by its magical atmospheres.

Art Curator Marta Graziano

Snjezana Cirkovic

Enchanted Forest

Snjezana Cirkovic

My Mind is My Wonderland

Soni Miekkavaara “Without the lived experience of opposites, there can be no experience of totality.” (Ernst Jung).

Since the dawn of philosophical thought, both in Greece and in countries further east, attention has been focused on the importance of the opposites that become necessary to ensure that there is balance and harmony. Good and evil, life and death, for example, exist in function of each other, as well as light and darkness, Soni’s work is the union of contrasts and opposites, a glimpse of light on a black background, a line that runs along a winding road, made of ups and downs, of curves, ups and downs. After all, life is just that, a long journey where joys and pains, feelings and emotions follow one another in a continuous succession. Encountering Soni’s work means coming into contact with everything, not only with the balance that springs from opposites but also the energy that binds us to the universe, the artist paints taking inspiration and strength from the bond that unites us with the rest. In a poetic vision of physics, such as the one that Lawrence Maxwell Krauss gave us, who states that we are all made of exploded stardust, in the same way Soni’s work is itself the result of this dust and it is concentrated in it all the energy of the universe. The work “Life lines” is an expression of an important emotional charge, the viewer is overwhelmed by the colors and strength that the traced signs emanate. Her work reminds me of the genius of Pollock who created intense works through dripping, letting himself be inspired by the gesture of his hands, without filters he moved in space, so Soni creates her works, following the instinct and inner strength that translates into “utomatic writing” and extreme freedom of expression. Soni puts her great ability to free himself and be guided, not only by instinct, but also by the forces that live in harmony in the infinite universe, at the spectator’s service. The artist allows us to become part of this great magic, puts us directly in contact with the vital energy that surrounds us, follow the lines she traces with our eyes, immerse ourselves in this vortex of emotions and vitality, this it is the gift that Soni gives us with his art.

Art Curator Vanessa Viti

Soni Miekkavaara

Life lines – Elämänlangat

Stefan Pašara “If you are able to understand my art, you are able to understand me.” (Stefan Pašara)

This is the aim that the Croatian artist wants to catch on with the users of his art. As a self-thaugh artist, Stefan realizes pieces of great dimensions that instill energy to the viewers thanks to the colors he loves playing with. Blue, red, yellow and their hues are, in fact, the predominant colors used to create the three acrylic paintings displayed for “FABLE” Exhibtion at MADS Milano. Being coherent with the theme of the exhibition “Collision”; “The Infinity and Beyond” and “Wings of Destiny” represent the artist’s thoughts in the form of art with which he can express himself and his behaviour. “The Infinity and Beyond” allows to be half-seen common interests and techniques used by italian futurist artists such as Luigi Russolo; Umberto Boccioni and Giacomo Balla. With their same dynamism the Croatian artist exalts the speed that strikes the observer in an aggressive way to the eye but that rouses his energy. In the same way, the larger “Collision” seems to show the same scene, creates on two panels that crashes at the center of the work giving a sense of vividness to it. Howhever the stripe at the center of the scene seems to alleviate this sensation with his sober and cold colors, made up by nuances of grey and soft black. While these two pieces show an abstract subject that is free of any interpretation, the last “Wings of Destiny” reveals the ability of the artist to bring the viewer in another dimension in which is the unpredictable fate who commands. The wings, the main character of the scene are driven by geometric spiral shape figures that seem to hypnotize at the view. The artist aim is to reflect his soul and his nature through his art, just like fables do with their stories.

Art Curator Martina Stagi

Stefan PasĚ&#x152;ara

Collision

Stefan PasĚ&#x152;ara

Infinity and beyond

Stefan PasĚ&#x152;ara

Wings of Destiny

Stephanie Limberg

A collage of different elements take shape in the precious art of the emerging artist Stephanie Limberg: acrylic paint, photographic paper, plastic flakes, applied jewels and cardboard film blend in the enchanting work of “Lucky Seven”. Observing the work Stephanie’s eye is immediately struck by a reference or perhaps a tribute by the artist to the “luck” represented by this enchanting woman placed in the center of the image. A presence that observes us, supports us and that in a certain way is linked to the wealth given by well-being, but also by the love represented by this heart placed by the artist in front of her and which strikes the attentive gaze of the observer. Inner wealth and elegance, love and luck are the elements on which Stephanie Limberg’s work of art focuses. Her artistic production is developed on the creation of collages with particular attention and care to the compositional elements, in this case represented by the use of this technique. Thus a contamination between different aspects worthy of note is born. Love at the center of the image and the extraordinary beauty of this woman, luck, observes us, scrutinizes us, supports us in life and leads us to face obstacles. A delicate work with an important meaning, rich in sensitivity and charm and which takes shape from the extraordinary skills of a multifaceted artist like Stephanie Limberg. A composition that generates life from the artist’s attentive gaze through a selection and very careful care of her materials, creating collages with her subjects that are real introspective masterpieces. Knowing the art of Stephanie Limberg means delving into the depths of the human soul and becoming the spokesperson for an art that is constantly inner research, emotions and sensitivity attentive to the choice of materials, to which she gives voice within her works. A meticulous care, an attention to detail, a rare and profound sensitivity towards the female figure as the spokesperson for a spiritual and interior change.

Art Curator Giulia Zanesi

Stephanie Limberg

Lucky Seven

Sylvain Boisjoly

Canadian artist Sylvain Boisjoly uses art as a means of venting his deepest emotions, he himself courageously affirms: “I paint to free myself away from my dark ideas that sometimes haunt the corners of my mind”. Impulse is the key to his art: he creates works without premeditation in which gestures are dominant. In this sense the artist approaches the Informal artists of the second post-war period. The same energy charge of Boisjoly is found in that of the American artist Franz Kline, that makes gestuality the fundamental act of his art. Boisjoly has the ability to capture on canvas the energetic charge of his gestures that convey a feeling of liberation. The outburst that emerges from his works is dictated not only by personal disturbances but also by social embarrassment, a theme very important to Boisjoly. The work exhibited at the MADS Milano art gallery is entitled “Sirocco”, this title immediately establishing in the mind of the observers the force of the wind. This feeling is confirmed by the execution of the work: it is as if a strong gust of wind has shifted the colors of the canvas, making them mix with each other and thus creating sudden shades. Darkness is undoubtedly evident in Boisjoly’s work, which emanates feelings of anger and pain, probably generated by society. However, on the other hand, light colors make their way and stand out on darker colors (such as purple and black): white tries to dominate the composition, alluding to a message of hope and redemption. Yellow, however, a colour that in the human psyche is connected to illness and anxiety, refers to the wickedness that is always ready to undermine itself in each of us.

Art Curator Giorgia Massari

Sylvain Boisjoly

Sirocco

Taija Mäntylä

Taija Mantyla is a Finnish artist who defines herself as a medium between colors and art. She says: “The painting is the boss and I am just a worker”. The artist works mainly in watercolor, the main means by which colors speak to her. Mantyla allows the colors to move and to show her the way. Imagination is the key to her art. The colors come together with each other, until she can imagine faces and animals. The work entitled “Forest Princess” is the perfect example of how, from her abstract art, emerge images, figures and faces. The dominant color of the work is certainly the violet, which imposes its coldness on the rest of the canvas. It comes close to gold and white, which create a brilliant contrast. An air of magic is expressed by this canvas. The eye travels and creates a story. The focus is definitely at the center of the painting, in which a human figure is distinguishable between the patches of color. Immediately after, the eye is attracted by a figure on the right: it has a yellow body and red horns, this figure thickens the mystery of the work. The lower part of the painting is dotted with human faces, the eyes and mouths of the characters are recognizable. In particular, the figure of a little girl dressed in white is clear, behind which a disturbing character stares at her. Taija Mantyla’s works encourage viewers to stimulate their imagination. They teach you to look beyond first appearances and look for connections. The artist therefore uses Abstractionism and watercolor as a means to channel the imagination, the only thing that can allow us to dream and to alienate ourselves from reality.

Art Curator Giorgia Massari

Taija Mäntylä

Forest Princess

Tatiana Altmann

Tatiana Altmann is a Russian artist, based in Germany. She is a graphic designer and she started painting recently.

Nevertheless, her works show a great pictorial maturity and a graphic footprint dictated by her work. Altmann presents at MADS Milano art gallery a work in acrylic, entitled “Young woman in blue headscarf”. Colors are the fundamental element of the work: blue and ochre dominate the composition, creating a strong visual contrast. The flat ochre background accentuates even more blue elements of the composition: lips, headscarf and the dress that slips from the woman’s shoulders. Outlines are well defined, although the artist does not use black contour lines but the figure seems to have been cut out and glued to the background. Flat backgrounds and her compositions recall the style of the French painter Paul Gauguin, in particular the choice of colors in “Young woman in blue headscarf” clearly refer to Gauguin’s work entitled “Woman with a mango” (1892). Altmann is also inspired by Steve Mccurry’s photographs, author of the famous shot of a young Afghan girl with wonderful green eyes, published by National Geographic in 1985. Mccurry takes up the color of the girl’s eyes in the background and other details, the same pattern is used by Altmann who inserts touches of blue in the eyes and around them. Tatiana Altmann creates works in which the female figure stands out through a clever combination of colors and a unique graphical style.

Art Curator Giorgia Massari

Tatiana Altmann

Young woman in blue headscarf

Tero Porthan “Imagination creates reality.” (Richard Wagner)

Fairy tales have great power. Suffice it to say that they have remained in our cultures for thousands of years and, even before the invention of writing, they were handed down orally from generation to generation. Man has always made its imagination a source of inspiration, continually creating new worlds. This allows us to imagine anything, to break through the wall of reality and be able to make the impossible real. Art is one of the greatest fruits created by our mind. Wanting to convey to others one’s inner vision of the world. This is what Tero does through his art. He accompanies us into a world where the elements of nature take on human features and interact with each other. Where a simple stream becomes a young woman, sitting on the edge of a small lake.

Where the stormy sea is an angry goddess, waiting for an offer to appease her anger. Where a bear sitting in the middle of a forest will finally be able to wear its claws, that a tree is holding out to him. Imagination is a gift, thanks to which we can conceive alternative realities to the present. Thanks to which, we can allow ourselves to overcome our limits, reaching where it had projected us and, thus, succeeding in making our dreams come true.

Art Curator Francesca Brunello

Tero Porthan

Bear Gets Its Claws

Tero Porthan

Maiden of the Pond

Tero Porthan

Vellamo Water Goddess

Tina Lundberg

The feminine beauty has been enhanced, reinterpreted and represented in works of intense and refined suggestion.

They exalt at the same time the aesthetic canons, dreams, aspirations, the psychological, unconscious and dreamlike dimension of women, so as to document their evolution. Painted and sculpted, female images have accompanied all the phases of our civilization as protective gods. Above all the constancy and richness of their presence identifies the complexity of Western thought on the front of the representation of “feminine”.

However, in the very invention of the “abstract and symbolic” forms of femininity, art reveals and implicitly recognizes the very power of woman. In fact, it enhances its mysterious harmony with the natural rhythms and with the regeneration of life itself. Modigliani, with the long and disproportionate necks and the irregular faces, the twisted and folded bodies of Schiele that with the body and the face had the objective of expressing a psychological discomfort. Naked bodies of powerful women, master of their bodies and of themselves, selfportraits deformed by psychotic disorders and physical mutilations and couples united in an eternal embrace without love. “Power” by Tina Lundberg is a work of intense representation of an ideal of pure and eternal beauty. In this work the subject is the female power expressed through the sinuous and refined body curves.

The work is characterized by impressive chromatic pomp, which through the use of intense blue and ethereal white underline the aspects of seduction exerted by the female body, converging towards a perspective capable of expressing its overwhelming and in some respects subversive force. Tina Lundberg, Swedish artist, through her art tries to inspire the interlocutor to find concrete tools in various ways that promote the puzzle of life and personal growth.

Art Curator Federica D’Avanzo

Tina Lundberg

Power

Tjeerd Doosje

In every era, fairy tales were invented to tell children: now they have become a symbol of the innocence and sweetness of children, just like the faces depicted in the shots of photographer Tjeerd Doosje. So, among the faces of Tjeerd we find Fay, in the shot entitled “Fay (0114), who like a contemporary Alice wondering what could be on the other side of the mirror. Alice manages to get past him, and Fay? She will learn to look beyond that mirror, to look beyond the external image of herself, to be able to look inside and discover herself every day.

Then we find Merlin, in “Merlin (0107)”, a modern Little red riding hood, who looks at us intently, transmitting the sweetness and purity of every child, who tends her gaze to those around her and seeks comfort in him. Then we see Emily, who in the shot “Emily (0201)”, Tjeerd depicts her lost but happy in a forest, a place par excellence where you get lost but only to find yourself better than before. Emily is also the protagonist of the shot “Emily (0207)” in which we can only make out her silhouette, but she seems to face the dark with confidence. Finally, Rona, in the shot “Rona (0304)”, listens to the waves of the sea by approaching a large shell to her ear, thinking of a distant place that makes her dream. Tjeerd has the ability to reveal, through the expressions of the faces and the pose that the models take, their personality, their way of being in some ways still little girls, living in the world of fairy tales, but for others already projected towards the world of reality.

Art Curator Silvia Grassi

Tjeerd Doosje

Emily (0201)

Tjeerd Doosje

Emily (0207)

Tjeerd Doosje

Merlin (0107)

Tjeerd Doosje

Rona (0304)

Tjeerd Doosje

Fay (0114)

Torhild Frøydis Eid

Torhild Frøydis Eid was born in 1961 in Kristiansand, currently living in Son, Norway. Torhild Frøydis is a passionate painter and she loves to experiment with colors and techniques. Sources of inspiration for her work are nature, sea, sky, light and music, in which she finds great joy, happiness and mindfulness. Her aim is to awaken and to remind the observer of all the beauty in life. In this sense her purpose is very close to that of the exhibition organized by MADS Milano art gallery, entitled “Fable”.

The exhibition encourages artists and their audience to continue to dream and to always stimulate their imagination. Frøydis Eid proposes three abstract works in which the power of emotions prevails. The work entitled “Dreams” is an example of how her artistic research starts from colors: pink is dominant, contrasted by colder colors that make the work more striking. The inspiration probably starts from the sweet colors of dawn, where darkness and light meet in the sky, heralding a new beginning.

Dreams disappear and reality begins. However, it is a work that wants to teach us not to abandon dreams, generating positivity in the viewer. With darker tones is the work entitled “Mysterious”: blue and gold prevail in the composition, almost clashing with each other and trying to prevail. The ocean is undoubtedly the inspiration of the artist, who creates a work in which the feeling of vastness is dominant. The feeling is to fly over the ocean that meets an island, represented by the gold spot in the center. The same shade of color is found in the work “The Blue Swan” although the execution differs from previous works.

In contrast to the other two abstract works, here the artist experiences a different composition: the approach to Italian Futurist artists is evident. The composition recalls the work “Pessimism and optimism” by the artist Giacomo Balla, made in 1923. The geometries and lines that create dynamism are taken from Frøydis Eid, thus creating a dynamic work in which the subject is evident. A blue swan is recognizable in the lower part of the composition: the lines of the beak and the neck merge between the figures that compose the painting, as if it were at the mercy of a storm but, in spite of that, it remains calm and impassive.

The sensation, accentuated by the blue of the canvas, is in fact that of calm. The artist has the ability to create works that create positive emotions in the observer, through the right choice of colors and her delicate traits.

Art Curator Giorgia Massari

Torhild Frøydis Eid

Dreams

Torhild Frøydis Eid

Mysterious

Torhild Frøydis Eid

The Blue Swan

Tori Fossum Sorgendal “It isn’t enough to pick a path, you must go down it. By doing so, you see things you couldn’t possibly see when you started out; you may not like what you see, some of it may be confusing, but at least you will have, as we like to say, explored the neighbourhood. The key point here is that even if you decide you’re in the wrong place, there is still time to head toward the right place.” (Ed Catmull)

Tori Fossum Sorgendal is a self-taught painter based in Norway. ‘The Pathway’ is an abstract painting whose dominant colour is a brownish/yellowish palette. The oneiric atmosphere of the piece evokes a sense of infinity as the artwork’s shapes and contours seem to be almost intangible and extremely soft. The meaning and reflection coming from the piece’s fruition is that the represented pathway could be any ‘way’ the one has to or would like to go through in the broadest sense. It could symbolise an hard decision to make, a fear to challenge and experience the unknown or an excitement to see what the uncontrollable future is reserving to us. ‘Pathway’ can be adapt to the prism of the individual’s inner reality that, in experiencing it, can fantasise about his own path, thanks to the piece’s multiple layers of interpretation.

Art Curator Cecilia Terenzoni

Tori Fossum Sorgendal

The Pathway

Varda Levy

If we think about it, many fairy tales begin with the protagonist entering a wood or a forest. In this sense, the fairy tales of Hansel and Gretel, Tom Thumb and Little Red Riding Hood are emblematic. Or, however, the forest is the place where fundamental events take place for the continuation of history. Let’s think, for example, even just of Snow-White or Rumple. The forest is therefore a fundamental element for the development of many fairy tales and stories of the cultural tradition of almost all countries in the world. In fairy tales, however, the forest almost always refers to a dark place, in which to be afraid. Instead, the artist Varda Levy represents truly fairytale woods and landscapes in her works, which convey a sense of peace and tranquility, as if we were already in the “happily ever after”. The fantasy of imagining magical and fairytale places guided the artist in the creation of these works, just as the title of the work “Fantasy” tells us. Colors are the undisputed protagonists of all the works, spread with large brushstrokes shaded in the various shades of the woodland vegetation. In “Fantasy” we find ourselves at the entrance to a forest, where the light makes its way through the leaves, we are about to enter, walking on a path of red ground. In “Purple”, on the other hand, a clearing of purple flowers suddenly opened before our eyes: a spot of intense color between the branches of brown trees. Finally, in “Pink” we are faced with a beautiful hill covered with beautiful pink flowers and it really seems to be in a magical world, almost fairy.

Art Curator Silvia Grassi

Varda Levy

Fantasy

Varda Levy

Purple

Varda Levy

Pink

Yewon Cho “Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.”

(Aristotele)

With this phrase from the philosopher Aristoteles, Yewon Cho a Korean artist wants to express her consideration of art. The artwork shown through the screens of M.A.D.S. gallery for ‘FABLE’ exhibition called: ‘Awake’ - an oil pastel picture - is the result of an inspiration that Yewon had one day at dawn when, the first thing she saw was the blue color of her room’s walls. The young artist, expressing her vision, has let herself be inspired by “The little mermaid” (1989) animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Features Animation and Walt Disney Pictures. The sensation each of us feel at dawn, the moment in which a new day starts, recalls the mermaid’s world that is here perceived as a boundary between two different ways of living. The different zones the artist wants to represent are expressed by means of the high horizon that separates, through a line, the marine world from which the siren, as a woman, comes out breaking the sea as a glass and reaching the human world.

According to the moment of her inspiration, the artist aim is to spread the consideration that we are all born mermaids who, after having broken the invisible walls of our own, had come to life. The bad and the ‘crystal’ bubble positioned on the sea bottom are the objects that are in connection with the artist’s real life.

Art Curator Martina Stagi

Yewon Cho

Awake

Yuika Asoi “I can’t bear to lose something as precious as the autumn sun by staying indoors. So I spent most of the hours of daylight in the open sky.” (Nathaniel Hawthorne) The autumn season brings with it something mystical and mysterious, nature takes on a new aspect, a sort of change of clothes so fascinating that one cannot help but look. Yuika’s photos represent a succession of enchanted stories, trapped in this magic, where the colors of autumn stop time, quiet the din of everyday life to make room for the sweet sounds of fantasy. Glimpses and landscapes of Nagatoro show themselves to the artist’s eyes as surreal scenarios, which offer different and changing perspectives and emotions, because they change with the changing of the sunlight. The artist offers us a different vision, postcards of a landscape reflected on a body of water, where the rippling of small waves makes the works full of vitality. Yuika’s work is never static, the elements photographed are not immobile, on the contrary there is a continuous movement, we perceive the wind shaking the leaves and the rustle they produce, letting ourselves be carried away by these movements we arrive there, in a dimension fairy. The artist gives us the gift of the freedom to fantasize through her shots. The natural elements and the colors connected to them shorten the distance between us and our unconscious, our feelings and our most intimate memories. Yuika’s works open the doors to our desire to get in touch with nature, to immerse ourselves in it and benefit from it. As in a fairytale, we become travelers to unspoiled places that refresh the spirit. Making the meeting of Yuika’s works is always a show for the soul, the great sensitivity of the artist makes her work unique, emotionally captivating, the viewer feels almost enveloped by sensations of peace and harmony. In her photographs there is always something magical and fantastic, they tell not only places but great stories, different at every glance.

“The gracious people of the woods welcome me warmly, the streams laugh louder when I arrive.”

(Emily Dickinson)

Art Curator Vanessa Viti

Yuika Asoi

Traveler

Yuika Asoi

Sparkle

Yuika Asoi

Flow-eternal

Yuika Asoi

Seahorse

Yuika Asoi

Autumn leaves

Yuliya Latysheva (Yula)

Yuliya Latysheva is a multimedia artist who loves to try out as much as possible new digital means in her works. Her artistic conception reflects her interest in human psychology, with special focus on the way people interact with each other and within a given context. She focuses her work on the revelation of expressive elements, transmitted among colors, light and matter. Recalling the abstract art of Vasilij Kandinskij, Yuliya expresses an “introspective landscape”: the impressions received from the outside are linked to those arising from her inner world. Her paintings are the result of a combination of geometric and symbolic signs that communicate with the viewer and invite him to participate in the creative act of the work. As in “Happy Day”, Yuliya’s artistic practice emerges clearly through the emotional properties of different shades, lines and shapes. Being inspired by the Post-Impressionism and Expressionism’s movements, the artist deepens a research on free color. She does not represent the reality that surrounds her, but she tries to represent her feelings through shapes and shades, making them emerge from the canvas and involving the observer in a whirlwind of emotions. Two main points can be underlined from this work: in the upper part there is a delicate center, with pink’s shades, as if they were slightly blurred; these colors seem to predominate also in the lower section, where the different shades turn into blue and azure. All these nuances are accompanied by tiny and wavy lines that make evident the life of the work itself and confirm a slight movement perception within the canvas. Also “In a Dream”, the artist places color and its dynamic function as the work’s center of gravity. The numerous color spots float in the air, completely enveloping the entire painting. The inner perception of the whole painting is determined by this main center and the small forms of painting produce a very wide effect of vitality, allowing the observer to experience new emotions coming from the image. In this work also appears a “dark side”, given by the presence of black in the background: the irrationality and unpredictability of human nature, which translates into a great gestural and chromatic energy. Finally, in “Night Violet” Yuliya elaborates fast brushstrokes, both subtle and full-bodied, rendering the work in constant movement with her extraordinary skill. The fluid and rhythmic signs are characterized by changes of direction and dynamism. As in a dance, the artist moves in every corner of the painting, without necessarily preferring one: in this way, she manages to give wide space to her creativity, which blends with the overall harmony of the canvas.

“The modern artist works to express an inner world. In other words: he expresses movement, energy and all the other inner forces.” (Jackson Pollock)

Art Curator Alessia Perone

Yuliya Latysheva (Yula)

Happy day

Yuliya Latysheva (Yula)

In a Dream

Yuliya Latysheva (Yula)

Night violet

Yuriko Sasaki “The universe is beginning to look more like a great thought than a great machine.”

(Sir James Jeans)

A palette of bright, laughing colors. An ethereal and almost incorporeal color rendering. Yuriko exhibits pigments on paper that smell of freedom, of independence from any constraint of form and subject. In her paper-based transposition, the pigments are applied by brush through a mode of representation that is extremely free from any hypothetical representation of reality and the elements that inhabit it. The color is often fluid, so transparent as to seem almost imperceptible, other times it is declined in denser backgrounds which, however, even in the points of maximum concreteness maintain their harmonic delicacy. Yuriko’s universe is made up of fresh, sweet forms that are freed up in a space marked by an evident motion of acceleration. What is represented are not firm and static figures, forms that end in themselves, safe and immovable, but elements with a faint physiognomy, interchangeable and subject to the laws of a universe - that of the canvas - in continuous expansion. Like a drop of enamel that, falling into a glass full of water, dilates and disperses in the transparent fluid, Yuriko’s ethereal shapes move through space, conquering it and saturating it with color, traveling in all directions with a perpetual motion of expansion. A Redshift on paper that involves all the elements of the composition in a movement of estrangement and dilation. And yet, in these ethereal compositions we find a blocking element, something that tries to stop this motion, an entity that dares to contain within a perimeter the colored physiognomies expressed on the canvas.

Yuriko Sasaki

The graphite line, that almost invisible thread that is a constant and necessary presence in Yurikoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paintings.

Flickering filaments, at times almost imperceptible, at other times distinguished by a pigment overwhelmingly pressed onto the canvas. The pencil lines, threads of containment and union between the parts, suitably compensate the perpetual movement of the chromatic masses and hold them on the canvas, forcing them to immobility and fossilizing them in that fraction of the universe that ends in the edges of the paper support. The representation is dominated by fantastic shapes, which owe so much to the world of the oneiric and fantasy. These stains, keeping intact some reminiscences of reality - those yellowish circles lead back to the shape of the coins mentioned in the title of the painting - acquire a personal expressive autonomy, their physiognomy and a new relationship with space. An undefined morphology that, like a dream or a fantastic tale, leads the viewer to discover new realities and unknown epiphanic perspectives. A dreamlike journey that, through the wise positioning of the elements in space, induces us to create associations and mental procedures, encouraging the formation of extraordinary and innovative intuitions.

Art Curator Lisa Galletti

Yuriko Sasaki

Money

Yuriko Sasaki

Sick

Yuta Tamura “Man is the being that has its meaning - its light - in itself.” (Martin Heidegger) Understated colours, undefined contours and flat backgrounds. Diluted touches of colour stand out against neutral and evanescent backgrounds, moulding into a saturnine painting that smells of sweet and calm melancholy. Yuta Tamura’s mood is a state of mind that does not have its roots in a past now distant and no longer recognizable, golden times that are remembered with a faint and sometimes bitter smile on the lips. It is an existential melancholy, in some ways atavistic and dictated by the inexorable flow of time, a hypothetical dimension in which the passing of events is conceived and measured. Ages, centuries, eras are inflexible condemnations, destined to every atom of organic or inorganic matter that is, revealing to us the ineluctable destiny to which everything is given by lot. The arrow of time envelops us, dominates us. It is imperious and impossible to evade. Yet peculiar is its imperceptibility, we do not detect with our senses its impetuous and unidirectional running. Our perception leads us to believe that every moment is still in itself and ends in the manifestation of the “here and now”. The time that hovers in Yuta’s works is a “suspended” time that escapes the grids of measurability. A time that is a-temporal; not the time of clocks, not a “flow” that “flows” linearly, but a round that follows, like a shadow, “the being of man”. The chromatic palette - reduced to the minimum terms - is resolved in a lean and arid pictorial material, where the neutral and calm tones of grey dominate. Friendly and supportive of touches of colour, the cinerine gradations light up the latter by infusing them with vital energy, giving them their own autonomy and manifest rigour. The floral stems and petals, incorporeal in their evanescent fragility, are distinguished by a skillful balance of colours. Dilute blue that stands out, uncertain, on a backdrop of greyish, antique pink, diaphanous and rarefied tones that do not desire a defined outline. They go to create extra-corporeal and dreamy forms that many times, in a legacy of animist worship, recall the sinuosity of a female body in its anthropomorphic form. Portraits of women with elusive contours and impenetrable gaze. Women gently stuck in their instant of time, in their most tangible and concrete form. Botanical elements and feminine bodies, refined and ethereal in their own personal temporality, are figures without līmĕs, resolved in their personal intimate space and time, whether fantastic or real. Witnesses of an immobile moment, fallen out of the calculable instant, resolve in their own intimate, immanent ancestral doubts.

Art Curator Lisa Galletti

Yuta Tamura

Smoke

Yuta Tamura

Doze

Yuta Tamura

Déjà-vu

Yuta Tamura

Come back again