federicocortese

Surreal dreaming scene. Oil on thick paper, 2023.

In the contemporary metropolis one can often get the impression that there is no end, edge, limit or border. The city seems to extend in all directions to the horizon, often with monotony and apparent alienating repetitions. However, for those who live in it, the infinite city is not only a source of stress and frustration, but it is often an exciting jungle, a continuous challenge full of possibilities and unpredictable opportunities. In the infinite city we become small and the fear of being crushed can be great, but despite this it irresistibly attracts us, like a siren call.

The fantastic world of animals. When I was a kid I went crazy for these small encyclopedias for children, where all the animal species were cataloged, and were represented with drawings rather than with images. Those drawings, although very detailed, left much to the imagination. It was as if some white space at the edges of the image were put there on purpose, to allow the viewer to complete, with the imagination, the work of describing that animal. Perhaps it is from this childhood passion that comes to me a certain obsession for animals, and a vice that leads me, starting from a detail or from a certain peculiarity, to exaggerate, to overstate the decorations and the colors, to allow the polyps to emit colored and psychedelic inks.

An original piece from the series “Psychedelic octopus”, oil on paper, original sold.

The Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach, invented the famous inkblots, to put into practice a therapeutic form in which a patient, observing these apparently indefinite forms, could create associations or interpretations, from which the analysis of the psychological disorders can begin. Often my work is criticized because it is too defined, too precise, too detailed. This accuracy would take away any possible action to the imagination of the observer. This reasoning has always made me smile a little, and each time reminds me of the Rorschach blots, which in reality were not indefinite, but on the contrary sharp and precise, and allowed to generate associations only because these associations are already inside the mind of the patient, or

Contemporary oil painting. About abstraction and symmetry.

An original piece from the series “Reliefs". Oil on concrete plaster, 2022 (original sold).

Let's imagine that we are lying down in a meadow on a bright spring day. At the foot of a tree the light filters through the leaves. Among the flashes that obscure the view and make us squint, the outlines of the branches, fronds and green blend and mix with the blue of the sky. The leaves crossed by the light are almost transparent, but their shadow falls upon us and protects us, instilling a sense of peace.

An original piece from the series “Reliefs”, oil on wood, original sold. When we consider a road map or a map of the territory we note that they contain different information that are represented by different means, according to the purpose for which they were created: each time we find colors, symbols and words that recall a precise meaning. What happens if I take these techniques of representation, these symbols, and take off the scope for which they were created and mingle them with each other? Will it be for the reader a text in a foreign language, that is meaningless, or through the world of associations and references that each of us possesses, will generate a new language and associate to those images a new meaning? I

A simple geometric structure made by two or three series of parallel lines generates the idea of a city seen from above or from afar, an urban landscape that is at times clear and at times indefinite, where some buildings emerge with precision while others remain uncertain, thanks to the decorative elements, and where sometimes it is barely impossible to understand that these are houses. The addition of shadows doesn’t add thickness and a sense of depth, but creates the effect of a homogeneous texture, as if this was a rich embroidered fabric. Finally, the title suggests the idea that a simplified form of representation could be invented, capable of representing each city with a few geometric elements, as in a sort of diagram.

I open my eyes underwater. The contours of objects are blurred. The contrast between the colors is softened by a veil that makes everything more uniform. The refraction of the light is influenced by the ripples in the surface of the sea. Flashes of light dance on things, concentrating and dispersing, giving the surface of the objects it stands on the impression of velvet. The fish move slowly among the seaweed, all things appear together, faded and dissolved into one another.

An original piece from the series “Please do not kill butterflies”, pins and oil on paper mounted on a wood panel. Original sold.

An original piece from the series “Please do not kill butterflies”, pins and oil on paper mounted on a wood panel, 2020. Original painting sold. Please, all these dead animals. Of course, not every one of us can or want to become vegetarian. Sure, in some cases, maybe, the medical experimentation needs them to get results. But we really have to kill them for our frivolous activities? Is it necessary to have so many pink pigs die in front of a camera? Do we really need to dissect sharks in formaldehyde, to starve stray dogs tied to a chain in the corner of a gallery, or to make innocent ants go crazy in twisted tubes of plexiglas? To make these paintings, no butterfly was killed.

An original piece from the series “Please do not kill butterflies”. Original sold. Please, all these dead animals. Of course, not every one of us can or want to become vegetarian. Sure, in some cases, maybe, the medical experimentation needs them to get results. But we really have to kill them for our frivolous activities? Is it necessary to have so many pink pigs die in front of a camera? Do we really need to dissect sharks in formaldehyde, to starve stray dogs tied to a chain in the corner of a gallery, or to make innocent ants go crazy in twisted tubes of plexiglas? To make these paintings, no butterfly was killed.

An original piece from the series “Please do not kill butterflies”, pins and oil on paper, 2020. Original sold.

Oil painting on wood panel.

Oil on wood panel

Original painting sold - In the contemporary metropolis one can often get the impression that there is no end, edge, limit or border. The city seems to extend in all directions to the horizon, often with monotony and apparent alienating repetitions. However, for those who live in it, the infinite city is not only a source of stress and frustration, but it is often an exciting jungle, a continuous challenge full of possibilities and unpredictable opportunities. In the infinite city we become small and the fear of being crushed can be great, but despite this it irresistibly attracts us, like a siren call.

Urban surreal view. Oil on paper, 2022 (original painting sold).

In the contemporary metropolis one can often get the impression that there is no end, edge, limit or border. The city seems to extend in all directions to the horizon, often with monotony and apparent alienating repetitions. However, for those who live in it, the infinite city is not only a source of stress and frustration, but it is often an exciting jungle, a continuous challenge full of possibilities and unpredictable opportunities. In the infinite city we become small and the fear of being crushed can be great, but despite this it irresistibly attracts us, like a siren call.

Childhood memories. Oil and pencil on paper, 2020.

Abstract composition, oil on paper. Original sold.

Abstract geometric composition, imaginary map.

Original sold - Every time that I come back home from a journey or a holiday, I always find some flags among the photographs that I’ve taken. I am particularly fascinated by those flags moved by the wind, where the geometries of the coloured tissues overlap on the spirals of folds and on the shadows generated by the movement. It’s even better if the flag is old, maybe a bit ripped, marked by the time that they spent to wave, maybe a little faded or dirty from the dusty air they crossed.

Every time that I come back home from a journey or a holiday, I always find some flags among the photographs that I’ve taken. I am particularly fascinated by those flags moved by the wind, where the geometries of the coloured tissues overlap on the spirals of folds and on the shadows generated by the movement. It’s even better if the flag is old, maybe a bit ripped, marked by the time that they spent to wave, maybe a little faded or dirty from the dusty air they crossed.

Imaginary colorful flags. Oil on paper, 2020.

Every time that I come back home from a journey or a holiday, I always find some flags among the photographs that I’ve taken. I am particularly fascinated by those flags moved by the wind, where the geometries of the coloured tissues overlap on the spirals of folds and on the shadows generated by the movement. It’s even better if the flag is old, maybe a bit ripped, marked by the time that they spent to wave, maybe a little faded or dirty from the dusty air they crossed.

This series of paintings was inspired by the metaphysical landscapes of De Chirico. I have always been fascinated by their clear vision of the architecture, with the precise design of the shadows, almost anticipating the modern use of three-dimensional modeling software. In the way I feel, however, more introverted and almost unsociable, the outer space is transformed into a closed one, private and protected, from which the human presence has totally gone away. In those rooms then, it may happen that some strange objects and some unexpected decorations appear, suggesting that the person who lives there has overcome the lack of relationship to the outside world with the richness and complexity of his inner world.

Abstract organic colorful composition. Oil on wood panel.

Abstract geometric composition. Oil on paper, 2020.

Imaginary map. Oil on paper, 2021. Original painting sold.

abstract geometric composition, 2020.

Abstract geometric composition. Oil on thick paper, original sold.

Abstract geometric composition. Oil on paper, original sold.

Some concentric circles are superimposed over a very simple geometric pattern that resembles a city map, recalling the idea of an explosion. From the intersection of the two overlapped geometries, decorative forms are born, and somehow they dampen that suggestion of violence and destruction. The explosion thus is crystallized, becoming one with the surrounding elements and sharing their fragility.

Abstract composition, oil on paper, 2021.