REGINE
REGINE
After the Argenti (silver) series, the magic of images continues with the Ori (gold) works in the present show, where erotic photographs from the late 1800s dissolve and rematerialize with gold enamel that conveys imagery made of flesh and dreams.
After Urban Icons in 2014, Wunderkammer Visionnaire is pleased to host a second exhibition dedicated to the research of the artist Paolo Leonardo. As in the urban actions and interventions on advertising posters with enamel paints, and the idea of street art as a political gesture, the aim of Paolo Leonardo remains that of freeing the feminine being from stereotypes, making her a subject and not just an object. After the Argenti (silver) series, the magic of images continues with the Ori (gold) works in the present show, where erotic photographs from the late 1800s dissolve and rematerialize with gold enamel that conveys imagery made of flesh and dreams.
To produce this series of works the artist has utilized ten images of female nudes, made by unidentified from 1880 to 1900, in albumen and gelatin silver prints.
The images from the collection of the Associazione per la Fotografia Storica of Turin were often taken by anonymous photographers, and were mostly made for artists at the time, who used them to study the female nude in different poses and to reproduce the figures in their paintings, working directly from the photographs without the need for live models. The painted intervention of Paolo Leonardo on enlargements of the original photographs printed on paper delivers the feminine figures to the dimension of a longer time span, elevating them to the rank of queens (Regine).
Born in Turin in 1973, Paolo Leonardo studied at the Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti. His work in painting represents a challenge to the contemporary media system, investigating the interaction between painting and photography. His creations are included in various private and public collections, in Italy and abroad.
