UNIX Gallery presents EDEN: Pianeti Lontani. Paradisi E Terre Vulcaniche, by Marcello Lo Giudice, which focuses on the natural beauty of our planet and the importance of its conservation for generations to come. Internationally renowned art critic and Yves Klein historian, Pierre Restany, defined Lo Giudice as an exceptional “telluric” painter. Lo Giudice has been exhibited at the main pavilion of the Venice Biennale in 2009 and 2011 and has a significant European and American collector base. The solo exhibition is on view at UNIX Gallery, 532 W 24th St. New York, NY, from May 12 – June 20, 2015. An opening reception will be held on Tuesday, May 12, 2015 from 6 – 8 PM.
Marcello Lo Giudice combines his knowledge of the Earth’s metamorphoses with a profound affection for organic, geological substances to create a variety of meticulously crafted paintings and sculptures. He composes vibrant and energetic paintings by spreading and layering colorful pigments thickly on the canvas, thus creating a coarse, haptic surface in various phases. From his technique, interweaved, rugged crossroads arise. True elegy to color and life, substantial force and enthusiasm are found in his work.
“When I paint, and I am also a gestural painter, I have to have the matter. The subject must have a right dosage, the right percentage of color to become a work of art,” says Lo Giudice about his nature being fundamental in his work. “So my relationship with matter is the classic relationship between a fisherman and his fish: a deep relationship, strong.” When asked about his relationship with nature as a theme: “I would say intimate,” explains the artist.
In EDEN: Pianeti Lontani. Paradisi E Terre Vulcaniche Lo Giudice expresses his conception of Eden: pure paradisi, uncontaminated, just as the first day of a newly created, naturalistic utopia. Ecology is a constant theme that motivates and inspires Marcello Lo Giudice’s beautiful works.
Lo Giudice “makes you discover worlds that engineering, architecture and the same artistic faculties can not reveal. Microscopically see the most beautiful masterpieces of contemporary art,” recalling his degree in Geology from the University of Bologna, which heavily bolsters and influences his telluric work. “The wonder of the geometries and symmetries, but above all the joy of colors,” the artist reflects. “If you take a microscope to a pyrite you see Jackson Pollock and de Kooning.”
Lo Giudice collaborates with fellow activist and close friend, Albert II, Prince of Monaco. For the Prince’s charity, Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Lo Giudice created Bleu, a book of nineteen lithographs and a one of a kind aquaforte. “The project was born when I went to the Isle of Ustica, one of the pearls of the Tyrrhenian Sea, and I realized it was completely overrun with plastic piece s left by the wake of passing ships there,” Lo Giudice recounts. Sales of Bleu were donated to the “Save the Mediterranean Sea” campaign, concentrating on environmental protection, sustainable development, climate change and the promotion of renewable energies as well as biodiversity. “Moreover, the Mediterranean is the center of the seas of the world because here the waters are distributed across the continent and ensure that all marine species have a natural habitat.”
Lo Giudice’s work can be found in numerous major public collections and museums, including the MoMA, Zagreb, Croatia; Museum of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rome; Deutsche Bank, Duesseldorf; John Elkann Collection (Fiat chairman) Turin, George Segal (producer), Los Angeles; Morgan Stanley Bank, Italy; Sheraton Group, Italy; Ecrit Company, France; Monte Carlo Hermitage Garden Principato di Monaco; Philip Morris, Switzerland; Cipriani Harry’s Bar, New York; FIGC Italian Soccer National Federation, Rome; Segal Company, USA; Sampdoria A.C. , Italy; Barbara Farber, USA; Hotel Kempinsky, Bratislava; Park Hyatt Hotel, Milan; Malpensa Airport, Milan; Bosforo Club, Istanbul.
Marcello Lo Giudice lives and works between Milan and Paris.