federico cortese

From a series of imaginary animals. Oil on wood, original sold.

From a series of imaginary animals. Oil on wood panel, 2022.

I open my eyes underwater. The contours of objects are blurred. The contrast between the colors is softened by a veil that makes everything more uniform. The refraction of the light is influenced by the ripples in the surface of the sea. Flashes of light dance on things, concentrating and dispersing, giving the surface of the objects it stands on the impression of velvet. The fish move slowly among the seaweed, all things appear together, faded and dissolved into one another. Oil on canvas, original sold.

Oil on wood panel, 2022.

An original piece from the series “Please do not kill butterflies”, pins and oil on paper mounted on a wood panel, 2022.

Please, all these dead animals. Of course, not every one of us can or want to become vegetarian. Sure, in some cases, maybe, the medical experimentation needs them to get results. But we really have to kill them for our frivolous activities? Is it necessary to have so many pink pigs die in front of a camera? Do we really need to dissect sharks in formaldehyde, to starve stray dogs tied to a chain in the corner of a gallery, or to make innocent ants go crazy in twisted tubes of plexiglas? To make these paintings, no butterfly was killed.

Flamingos. Oil on canvas, 2022.

An original piece from the series “Chromatic”, oil on thick paper, 2022.

An original piece from the series “Chromatic”, oil on thick paper, 2022.

Abstract composition, oil on thick paper, 2022.

Abstract geometric composition, oil on paper, 2022.

When we consider a road map or a map of the territory we note that they contain different information that are represented by different means, according to the purpose for which they were created: each time we find colors, symbols and words that recall a precise meaning. What happens if I take these techniques of representation, these symbols, and take off the scope for which they were created and mingle them with each other? Will it be for the reader a text in a foreign language, that is meaningless, or through the world of associations and references that each of us possesses, will generate a new language and associate to those images a new meaning?
In these paintings, in particular, I am interested in contours that highlight the points of the territory which are at the same elevation. In my works, they become the borders of different colors or shades, bringing out hidden shapes and concentric curves.

Abstract composition, oil on canvas, 2021.

An original piece from the series “Reliefs”, oil on paper, 2021. Original sold.

When we consider a road map or a map of the territory we note that they contain different information that are represented by different means, according to the purpose for which they were created: each time we find colors, symbols and words that recall a precise meaning. What happens if I take these techniques of representation, these symbols, and take off the scope for which they were created and mingle them with each other? Will it be for the reader a text in a foreign language, that is meaningless, or through the world of associations and references that each of us possesses, will generate a new language and associate to those images a new meaning? In these paintings, in particular, I am interested in contours that highlight the points of the territory which are at the same elevation. In my works, they become the borders of different colors or shades, bringing out hidden shapes and concentric curves.

Imaginary surreal urban landscape. Oil on paper, 2021. Original sold.

Imaginary surreal urban landscape. Oil on paper, 2021. Original sold.

An original piece from the series “Embroideries”; oil on paper; 2021. Original sold.

The maps of the sky, unlike the traditional maps, have no edges or boundaries. Here there is no demarcation between land and water, there is only the position of dots representing the stars in the vacuum of space, and possibly the lines joining these points, to create similarities with animals, symbols or objects that help us remember and recognize. The plot of these points and these lines creates a fictional embroidery. This is the starting point from which I begin this series of paintings. But here the map quickly becomes tangled and twisted. Symbolic forms and objects appear. At first they seem to be of value in orientation, but soon they reveal to be obstacles, capable of generating a maze, and so you get lost, passing from a geometric order to the chaos of a tangled skein.

An original piece from the series “Embroideries”; oil on paper, original sold.

The maps of the sky, unlike the traditional maps, have no edges or boundaries. Here there is no demarcation between land and water, there is only the position of dots representing the stars in the vacuum of space, and possibly the lines joining these points, to create similarities with animals, symbols or objects that help us remember and recognize. The plot of these points and these lines creates a fictional embroidery. This is the starting point from which I begin this series of paintings. But here the map quickly becomes tangled and twisted. Symbolic forms and objects appear. At first they seem to be of value in orientation, but soon they reveal to be obstacles, capable of generating a maze, and so you get lost, passing from a geometric order to the chaos of a tangled skein.

An original piece from the series “Embroideries”; oil on paper, original sold.

The maps of the sky, unlike the traditional maps, have no edges or boundaries. Here there is no demarcation between land and water, there is only the position of dots representing the stars in the vacuum of space, and possibly the lines joining these points, to create similarities with animals, symbols or objects that help us remember and recognize. The plot of these points and these lines creates a fictional embroidery. This is the starting point from which I begin this series of paintings. But here the map quickly becomes tangled and twisted. Symbolic forms and objects appear. At first they seem to be of value in orientation, but soon they reveal to be obstacles, capable of generating a maze, and so you get lost, passing from a geometric order to the chaos of a tangled skein.

From a series of imaginary tribal masks. Oil on thick paper, 2021.

From a series of imaginary tribal masks. Oil on thick paper, 2021.