Article by Samuel Staples // June 28, 2018
In their new joint exhibition at Galerie Rolando Anselmi Berlin, artists Gianni Pellegrini and Ignacio Uriarte explore the relationships between light and darkness, brightness and opacity, and colour and dimension. On view until July 4th, the exhibition aims to create a dialogue between the two bodies of work by the Italian Pelligrini and German Uriarte and their unique aesthetic approaches to colour and the two-dimensional surface.
In works on view from the ‘Profili’ series, Pellegrini examines the contrasts between light and dark as well as light and shadow through layers of acrylic. Absent from Pellegrini’s canvases are visible brush strokes, the resulting gradation from light to dark in the large-scale monochromatic pieces recalling the work of American abstract expressionist painters such as Mark Rothko and, to a greater extent, Ad Reinhardt with his ‘black’ or ‘ultimate’ paintings. Like Reinhardt, Pelligrini’s paintings are pure in their abstraction, subtle in their composition and intense in their shades.
Inspired by his former career in business administration, Uriarte creates a new aesthetic language by way of analogue media and mechanical instruments. Unlike Pelligrini, Uriarte approaches the bi-dimensional surface by way of weaving straight, parallel and perpendicular lines with bright shades of blue, red and green in his geometrical compositions.
The gallery itself, established in Berlin in 2012, offers a wide space to highlight Pellegrini and Uriarte’s canvases, its high ceilings and pristine white walls complimenting the two bodies of work, and opening up a new space in which both artists can interact.
Group Show: ‘Gianni Pellegrini, Ignacio Uriarte’
Exhibition: June 13 – July 4, 2018
Winsstrasse 72, Berlin 10405, click here for map
