Mortal and Perishing Substances
Galleria Paolo Curti / Annamaria Gambuzzi & Co.
Via Pontaccio 19, 20121 Milan, Italy
20 May - 18 July 2014
Galleria Paolo Curti/Annamaria Gambuzzi & Co. is proud to present the first solo show in Italy by Harry Adams, opening on Tuesday 20 May at 18.30, at Via Pontaccio 19, Milan.
References to William Blake are very frequent in their poetics, and it is no coincidence that the title of the show comes from a 19th-century text written and illustrated by Blake in which the romantic spirit of painting emerges, not limited to reproducing reality, but rising towards a visionary sphere of man and nature.
Press Release
HARRY ADAMS
Mortal and Perishing Substances
Opening Tuesday 20 May 2014 at 18.30
Galleria Paolo Curti/Annamaria Gambuzzi & Co. Via Pontaccio 19 - 20121 Milan
20 May 2014 - 18 July 2014
Opening hours: Monday – Friday 11-19closed Sundays and holidays, Saturday by appointment only
Galleria Paolo Curti/Annamaria Gambuzzi & Co. is proud to present the first solo show in Italy by Harry Adams, opening on Tuesday 20 May at 18.30, at Via Pontaccio 19, Milan.
Harry Adams is the name of the duo formed in 2008 by Steve Lowe and Adam Wood.The two artists, who met while attending art school in London, immediately began to collaborate on different projects, ranging from music to cinema to photography, and then arriving at painting.References to William Blake are very frequent in their poetics, and it is no coincidence that the title of the show comes from a 19th-century text written and illustrated by Blake in which the romantic spirit of painting emerges, not limited to reproducing reality, but rising towards a visionary sphere of man and nature.
In the exhibition, through ten recent paintings, Harry Adams juxtapose present and past in a reinterpretation of images and a re-reading of certain works by great masters like Giotto, Constable and Bosch, but also Paolo Uccello and Leonardo da Vinci.In particular, for this exhibition Harry Adams have created a tribute to the masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance in Milan: The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. The large triptych (183 x 366 cm), painted with dense brushstrokes alternating with drawn and “unfinished” zones, interprets a dialogue between belief and disbelief, creation and apocalypse, in which the artists assign art a spiritual function.
Landscapes play an important role among the subjects frequently addressed by the duo. The romantic atmosphere of rural scenes as in “Ornamental Tree in Flood” form a contrast with the arid landscape depicted in the work “Global Seed Vault, Svalbard,” a building located off the Norwegian coast safeguard the genetic heritage of seeds from all over the planet. A remarkable collection assembled to protect botanical diversity in case of natural disasters, cataloguing and conserving everything that has grown on the Earth until today. In the painting, the entrance to this construction is shown as a monolithic work of architecture, a static presence, a symbol of power and, at the same time, a metaphor of overwhelmed, threatened nature.
The works shown in the exhibition have been made with the ancient technique of encaustic painting. Traditionally used on walls, in this case it is deployed on canvas with a mixture of wax and paint, in which the brushstroke and the graphic sign are freely materialized.
Adam Wood was born in 1965 in East London - Steve Lowe was born in 1966 in Slough (Berkshire). They live and work in London and Hastings (UK).
The artists will be present at the opening.