Andrea Romano — Gaudel de Stampa Gallery — Exhibition — Slash Paris

Past: January 25 → March 23, 2013

On the occasion of his first solo exhibition at the gallery, Andrea Romano presents four art works: two felt-pen drawings on paper; a polyurethane sculpture; and a pencil drawing on paper framed into a granite case. Each art work within the exhibition can be read in terms of an unacknowledged sign concealing the potential of acquiring the status of an icon. On this purpose, the artist’s deployment of beauty exceeds the prove for skillfulness and asserts a strategy for pleasing the viewer: behind his delicate shapes and charming pictures, the artist pursues a boastful attitude towards creativity, that is the aim to undertake an active position within the history of visual culture—the notion of legacy, on one hand, and the strive for novelty, on the other, are the poles to define the terrain of the exhibition: a display of artistic inventions, quotes and recoveries.

The felt-pen drawings belong to the series Das Erbe (H&B) (2012-on going). Details of the encounters between men and dinosaurs in Hanna-Barbera’s cartoon sitcom The Flintstones, these pictures render the clash between a prehistorical scenario and a modern lifestyle, in order to question the idea of visual find: the signs hint at gestures, which the viewer is asked to interpret, as an archeologist facing some remnants—she has to reconstruct an unknown context. The polyurethane sculpture— Highlight (2013)—is manufactured through a 3D printer and then varnished with the most innovative paint employed in car refinishing. It is the first outcome in a series of sculptures to mark the passage of time. By employing the newest materials, finishes and technologies, each sculpture establishes a symbolic attachment to its present time; but since it stands for a record, is doomed to reincarnate itself into a more performative object.

The pencil drawing is part of the series Claque & Shill (2011-on going), in which the artist establishes symbiosis between pictures and their support. The drawing and the stone frame are to be interpreted as two figures (a claque and a shill) who are able to manipulate the reception of a phenomenon, by infiltrating the audience and orientating its taste. Theatricality is chased also in the characters depicted by the artists—animals that evoke a certain affectedness, like white tigers or dolphins—in the attempt to overcome the border between stage and life into a reality of representation.