Diramante Schiuma Bollicine ed Opaco

Alessandro Albanese Gallery presents the exhibition Diramante Schiuma Bollicine ed Opaco by Matteo Valerio, curated by Giorgio Verzotti. The exhibition marks the official inauguration of BOXBOX, the gallery’s new space in the heart of Porta Venezia in Milan. The exhibition features a custom-designed installation for the new 400-square-meter space. The canvases are patchworks composed of pieces of fabric sewn together using tailoring techniques: each shape is cut from a paper pattern and individually treated with natural dyes (cochineal, mignonette, madder, woad, indigo), oil and acrylic pigments, indigo batik, intaglio prints (etching and aquatint), woodcuts and embroidery. Many fabrics have significant origins: old tablecloths, antique linen and hemp fabrics, Venetian silk velvets and damasks, denim cottons processed with laser burning, ozone, and synthetic dyes.
The ceramic works are made with semi-refractory clays and stoneware. They are born from a connection with the soft, enveloping appearance of clay, which possesses characteristics similar to fabric. The dialogue between the two practices is reinforced by the applications of color, transformed by heat together with organic or mineral compounds: layers of wood-fired pottery at 1200°C, boiling pots with
madder roots, or indigo reductions.