federicocortese

In the museum of criminology in Turin are kept the drawings made by people who were once imprisoned in mental hospitals. Often in these drawings appears a chilling pattern made of geometries and symmetries, a sort of cage or prison made ​​of dense colored lines, arranged strictly within a rigid structure of compositional rules. It 's a bit like if those people were not only locked up against their will, but perceived in their head and their thoughts another prison, another cage, and with these drawings were able to represent it, with a dense overwhelming decoration. The affinity of these works with Buddhist mandalas is curious. In one case we associate these works with the idea of ​​meditation and stillness, in the other we are dealing wit

An original piece from the series “Tetris”, oil and pencil on paper, 32 x 40 cm, 2010. In the popular video game Tetris, pieces of various shapes slowly come down from above. The aim of the game is to be able to stick them in as they fall, avoiding the creation of voids. The making of a line devoid of interruptions will allow the disappearance of all the elements that compose it and the continuation of the game. But little by little the pieces accumulate, the thinking time is reduced and the stress increases, until a final piece arrives to occupy the space available above, and the game ends.

An original piece from the series “Please do not kill butterflies”: 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 drawings, no butterfly was killed.

An original piece from the series “The earth seen from space” This series of paintings is inspired by satellite photographs that today, with tools like Google Earth, allow anyone the virtual exploration of the planet. Starting from those real images, I rework those aerial views, inventing new codes of representation and new decorative elements. The map is distorted, deformed, altered as if it were a past memory, but something of that place is still recognizable.

From a series of imaginary tribal masks.

From a series of imaginary tribal masks.

This series of paintings is inspired by satellite photographs that today, with tools like Google Earth, allow anyone the virtual exploration of the planet. Starting from those real images, I rework those aerial views, inventing new codes of representation and new decorative elements. The map is distorted, deformed, altered as if it were a past memory, but something of that place is still recognizable (original sold).

From a series of imaginary maps. Original sold.

(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 drawings, no butterfly was killed.

An original piece from the series “Please do not kill butterflies”: 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 drawings, no butterfly was killed.

An original piece from the series “Please do not kill butterflies”: Please, all these dead animals ... Of course, not everyone of us can or want 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 drawings, no butterfly was killed. ORIGINAL SOLD.

Please, all these dead animals ... Of course, not everyone of us can or want 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 drawings, no butterfly was killed.

An original piece from the series “Please do not kill butterflies”: Please, all these dead animals ... Of course, not everyone of us can or want 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 drawings, no butterfly was killed.

An original piece from the series “Please do not kill butterflies”: Please, all these dead animals ... Of course, not everyone of us can or want 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 drawings, no butterfly was killed. ORIGINAL SOLD.

An original piece from the series “Code” (original sold): The European travelers who made the grand tour in Italy in the nineteenth century, brought back home, in their drawings and memories, a romantic, bucolic, partly false image of the country. They started the journey with a predefined idea and expected to find that, so they were able to see ancient ruins in idyllic landscapes, ignoring the poverty and misery surrounding them. In the same way the map of a city can become a plot of memories or even the falsification of memories. There will be in that map some gaps, or forgotten parts, and parts that we remember as we would like them to have been and not for how they really were.

An original piece from the series “Code”. Original sold. The European travelers who made the grand tour in Italy in the nineteenth century, brought back home, in their drawings and memories, a romantic, bucolic, partly false image of the country. They started the journey with a predefined idea and expected to find that, so they were able to see ancient ruins in idyllic landscapes, ignoring the poverty and misery surrounding them. In the same way the map of a city can become a plot of memories or even the falsification of memories. There will be in that map some gaps, or forgotten parts, and parts that we remember as we would like them to have been and not for how they really were.

An original piece from the series “Code”: The European travelers who made the grand tour in Italy in the nineteenth century, brought back home, in their drawings and memories, a romantic, bucolic, partly false image of the country. They started the journey with a predefined idea and expected to find that, so they were able to see ancient ruins in idyllic landscapes, ignoring the poverty and misery surrounding them. In the same way the map of a city can become a plot of memories or even the falsification of memories. There will be in that map some gaps, or forgotten parts, and parts that we remember as we would like them to have been and not for how they really were.

Imaginary urban landscape (original sold). In this series of paintings I try to blend together the architectural and monumental elements of a place or a city. It 'a bit like recalling to the memory a journey made in the past: it will produce many confused and overlapping images. The title of the series wants to reclaim the idea of a fluid memory, moved like water, and confused like a mirage. This painting is part of a series of pieces that were commissioned from the FIRST QATAR REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT COMPANY. The copies of these paintings have been used for the wall decor of the rooms of the new Hilton "The Pearl" in Doha, Qatar.

An original piece from the series “Houses on the water” - original sold - This painting is part of a series of pieces that were commissioned from the FIRST QATAR REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT COMPANY. The copies of these paintings have been used for the wall decor of the rooms of the new Hilton "The Pearl" in Doha, Qatar.

This painting is part of a series of pieces that were commissioned from the FIRST QATAR REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT COMPANY. The copies of these paintings have been used for the wall decor of the rooms of the new Hilton "The Pearl" in Doha, Qatar. ORIGINAL SOLD. In this series of paintings I try to blend together the architectural and monumental elements of a place or a city. It 'a bit like recalling to the memory a journey made in the past: it will produce many confused and overlapping images. The title of the series wants to reclaim the idea of a fluid memory, moved like water, and confused like a mirage.

Please do not kill buterflies!

Please do not kill butterflies! (original sold)

From the series “Ancient beasts”, oil and pencil on paper. Original size: 30 x 21 cm. The medieval illustrators represented animals that they had never seen, described by others, or derived from mythology. This generated monstrous creatures. From here comes the idea of a common set of animals, which are deformed with the help of redundant decorative codes. To simulate the ancient miniatures, I use ink and uniform color areas. My original artworks are also available for sale at the following link: www.saatchiart.com/ico71

An original piece from the series “Please do not kill butterflies”. ORIGINAL SOLD. Please, all these dead animals ... Of course, not everyone of us can or want 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 drawings, 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 everyone of us can or want 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 drawings, no butterfly was killed.

An original piece from the series “Please do not kill butterflies”: Please, all these dead animals ... Of course, not everyone of us can or want 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 drawings, no butterfly was killed.

imaginary surreal animals

Imaginary surreal colorful animals

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 “Zi hua”, pencil on paper, 2016. I wanted to learn to write Chinese characters, but I've lost control! I have always been fascinated by the art of the ideograms, and when I was in China I spent hours and hours, enchanted to observe people trying to dip the brushes into water, and to draw on the ground ephemeral signs intended to evaporate, with controlled and sensual movements. But my nature is baroque! The gesture that I started cannot be stopped, the hand begins to draw on the paper some convolutions, scrolls and doodles, at first timid, but soon prevailing over the same character and its meaning! And the gesture that remains, even if free and decorative, is extremely rewarding for me!

An original piece from the series “Zi hua”: I wanted to learn to write Chinese characters, but I've lost control! I have always been fascinated by the art of the ideograms, and when I was in China I spent hours and hours, enchanted to observe people trying to dip the brushes into water, and to draw on the ground ephemeral signs intended to evaporate, with controlled and sensual movements. But my nature is baroque! The gesture that I started cannot be stopped, the hand begins to draw on the paper some convolutions, scrolls and doodles, at first timid, but soon prevailing over the same character and its meaning! And the gesture that remains, even if free and decorative, is extremely rewarding for me!

An original piece from the series “Zi hua”, pencil on paper, 2016. I wanted to learn to write Chinese characters, but I've lost control! I have always been fascinated by the art of the ideograms, and when I was in China I spent hours and hours, enchanted to observe people trying to dip the brushes into water, and to draw on the ground ephemeral signs intended to evaporate, with controlled and sensual movements. But my nature is baroque! The gesture that I started cannot be stopped, the hand begins to draw on the paper some convolutions, scrolls and doodles, at first timid, but soon prevailing over the same character and its meaning! And the gesture that remains, even if free and decorative, is extremely rewarding for me!

An original piece from the series “Please do not kill butterflies”: Please, all these dead animals ... Of course, not everyone of us can or want 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 drawings, no butterfly was killed. ORIGINAL SOLD.

An original piece from the series “Please do not kill butterflies”. ORIGINAL SOLD. Please, all these dead animals ... Of course, not everyone of us can or want 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 drawings, 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 everyone of us can or want 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 drawings, no butterfly was killed.

An original piece from the series “Extrusions”: This series of works was originally born from the following idea: I imagine a sign on the paper, like a cut, from which other signs, shapes and colors emerge, as if it were a sort of material capable of generating the painting, a sort of Pandora's pot of painting. By the time this initial idea has become more complicated. That sign on paper came out of paper, it has become three-dimensional, a piece of fabric on the sheet, a sort of pocket from which the paint spills, and eventually other simple objects spill, such as little glass beads, that suddenly become precious just because they are now on the surface of a work of art.