Lorenzo Aceto – Wurzelkinder
Quartz Studio is pleased to present “Wurzelkinder,” the first solo show in Turin by the Italian artist Lorenzo Aceto (Pescara, Italy, 1985).
The artist explains that the exhibition title is from the children’s book Etwas von den Wurzelkinder, translated as “The Story of the Root Children.” This early 20th-century story, written and illustrated by Sibylle von Olfers, is about children who live underground in the winter and come out during spring to forage for insects, flowers, and fruit, before returning to the depths of the earth in autumn. The artist found this image to be evocative and resonant with his work, deeply connected to the earth as a generative and regenerative element. The earth receives, transforms, and absorbs, and it is where figures merge, shifting from subject to object.
Lorenzo Aceto’s artistic inquiry is rooted in nature. His paintings include clearly recognizable organic forms such as burnt trunks, animal bones, and dried plants which speak to death and transience. Muted, earthy colors heighten the impression of places that are very distant in time, post-archaeological, oscillating between life and decay. Aceto starts with drawings that he then transforms into oil paintings. Forging an osmosis between the two techniques, he vacillates between surrendering to the harshness of the present day and a glimmer of optimism about days to come, guiding us into his mental space, made up of natural and imagined elements.
In his painting, Bucaneve (2022), this existential dichotomy is particularly evident. Animal carcasses are in the foreground on arid land juxtaposed and contrasted with delicate snowdrop flowers, symbols of rebirth and spring emerging from the sand. They suggest the possibility of a life cycle that keeps going despite it all.
Lorenzo Aceto’s painting starts from recognizable figurative elements that gradually turn into intimate visions with a powerful emotional impact. His art is spare and incisive, based on marks, colors, and varied brushstrokes of painted material, for an unsparing reflection on the power relationships between humans and nature.
His large and medium-sized paintings on display in Turin at Quartz Studio have an atmosphere of quiet desolation. They are counterpoints to small works that are more explicitly pictorial such as Pietre a secco (2025), which have a personal, playful aspect in a precarious, ever-shifting balance between hope and disillusionment.
Lorenzo Aceto (Pescara, Italy, 1985) is a visual artist who works with painting and drawing. In 2010, he earned his Bachelor’s degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Urbino. Between 2009 and 2013, he worked with the Cesare Manzo Gallery in Pescara, where he held two solo exhibitions. In 2016, he was selected for Pilotenkueche, an international artist residency program in Leipzig, Germany, where he currently lives and works. Over the years, he has exhibited in numerous galleries across Italy and has received recognition and awards nationally and internationally.
Aceto’s artistic inquiry unfolds on two interconnected levels: a formal investigation into the language of painting and a conceptual reflection on the relationship between humanity and the environment. His work is rooted in figurative painting. His creative process is dynamic; his drawing stimulates painting and, in turn, painting enriches his drawing—forging an ever-evolving cycle of exploration.
