Giorgio Pugliese
Hand Painted Silk

- Nato a Roma il 21/03/1948

Formazione:
- Scuola Libera di nudo - Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma
- Laurea in Giurisprudenza - Ateneo “La Sapienza” di Roma


Mostre

Mostre personali:
- 2005 “Il marmo e la seta” Neoart Gallery - Roma
- 2006 “Sassi in seta” Sala delle Rose - Fontenuova
- 2009 “Made in Italy” - Kuwait city
- 2010 “Sintesi” - Galleria d'arte CKM di Kolokoy - Istanbul

Mostre collettive:
- 2001 Primo premio concorso internazionale “Museum Image” - Arezzo
- 2005 7A mostra internazionale d’arte “Immagina arte in fiera” - Reggio Emilia
- 2006 16A Istanbul Art Fair - Istanbul
- 2006 8A mostra internazionale d’arte “Immagina arte in fiera” - Reggio Emilia

Crediti

“Images Art & Life” - Mantova - a cura di Piercarlo D’Angeli
“Sassi in seta” a cura di Francesco Giulio Faraci
“Arte” in “Controluce” a cura di Piercarlo D’Angeli
"Tender Marbles" - di Alexandra Filonenko - XVIª Fiera Internazionale di Istanbul

Tender Marbles

Every artist searches for a peculiar subject for his art, which could become the fullest embodiment of his world comprehension. Some of them make their subject the very material. But what may happen if this material is disguised by another material, if through the proprieties of the one the proprieties of the other are manifested, and these proprieties seem to contradict the nature of the first?
In this case we have a subtle delusion which may speak about much more complicated issues than we could ever suspect…

Tender marbles and firm silks – these are the paradoxical works of Giorgio Pugliese. On delicate, almost transparent silk are depicted absolutely unexpected objects.
Or rather these silk surfaces, with the help of the unique author’s technique of silk painting, are transformed into objects – ancient fossils, fragments of antique and medieval mosaics and dedicatory inscriptions, architectural details, all made with “archeological” accuracy, including losses ad damages, as if keeping all conventions concerning non-intervention into the historical strata.

The artist imitates diverse surfaces – sometimes smooth and polished, sometimes rough, skillfully reproduces splendid texture and compound colors of noble marbles employing transparency of the silk to the fullest advantage to convey peculiar luminescence of this sort of stone.
The received imitations in their aesthetic value compare well with the original artifacts that acted as source of inspiration and provocation.

As if the artist was copying ancient messages with the precision and craftsmanship of a higly experienced copier who has seen in his lifetime many curiosities and rarities and who is an expert in these matters.
This is a specific kind of philosophy that is built on the dialogue of the old and the new, on the profound respect for the History, and also on a peculiar “metaphysics” of the substance – an intuitive comprension of the unity of all things in the Universe where everything is, in essence, the same and it doesn’t matter what imtates what. Tough being true to our time of total substitution and mystifications, Giorgio Pugliese cannot resist the temptation to enter into a game with our percepition – to tease it, to evoke wonder, to provoke us for response.

A thin border between reality and imagination is fading away, visual experience doesn’t correspond to tactile sensations – touching a stone surface one expects to feel the cold of a solid material, wich he sees with his eyes, but the hand meets smooth surface of a warm silk. Astonishment and admiration, and even some fear will inevitably arise because in such deceiving things dwells certain magic akin to the tricks of the ancient gods who were able to turn themselves into anything. Here art seems to return to its most ancient functions – imitation of reality and magical influence.

Thus, under the magical influence of the art, silk turns into multicoloured marbles and precious smalts. And further it can transform into a panel, a lam, a decorative element of interior. As if “archeological” objects have been returned back to life, having denied their immanent “museum-ness”. Rome, the city, where works and philosophize Giorgio Pugliese, sets certain context within the framework of wich the creative work is bound to evolve – it is impossible to escape the History, it dwells in every stone of the Eternal City.

That is why for creation of his works Giorgio Pugliese employs a method that, at first sight, seems to be conceptually minimalistic – as an artistic ploy is chosen imitation, without any additional semantics. But in the situation of the intense and rich historical and cultural context, to wich appeals the artist while creating his work, this method reveals a vast potential for interpretation. Because every stone of Rome, of Italy on the whole, may tell its own story. Having decipted it, the artists “depicts” also the History. Since the little reflects the great.

Alexandra Filonenko