
Luigi Carboni, has come to be seen as one of the most engaging Italian painters of his generation. And yet often he presents his work in the guise of sculpture… Misleadingly so, but purposefully so. His work in the mid- to late-eighties usually displayed geometrical objects that were loosely organised in relationship to a grid. This grid might be a metal rack or simply the way the elements of the work itself were arranged, but its ordering capabilities were strongly indicated and felt. This allowed an ambiguous play between the structure and the apparently freely applied paint, as well as between the painting and the solid forms of the objects which, in turn, referred back to the grid, the work’s backbone. The three-dimensional elements might at times disappear, but the surface of his canvases has
coagulated and thickened in places: paint stands up from the plane, it catches and reflects light and shade – but the repetition of certain forms whispers that the grid is still there, just as it was fifteen years ago, tying the incidents to the surface and allowing them to play in the knowledge that they are backed by a firm structure. And when three-dimensional forms are employed – as they often are without any immediately apparent reference to the traditional accoutrements of painting – their surface too exerts its pre-eminence: it may be gleaming gold or silver, crusty or smooth. But it still refers to painting: it is indicative that his “sculptures” can be arranged in any one of a number of configurations according to taste rather than to the artist’s predisposition.
See biography
Available works
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Ridisegnare, 2019
Acrylic on canvas,
200 x 150 cm -
Senza titolo, 2016-19
Acrylic on oil on medium density,
30 x 20 cm -
Senza titolo, 2016-19
Acrylic on oil on medium density,
30 x 20 cm -
Senza titolo, 2006
Enamel on extroverted canvas
200 x 160 cm -
Lezione bianca, 2002
Acrylic on canvas
190 x 21 cm each -
Bianco Ombrato, 2003
Mixed media on canvas
120 x 100 cm
Sculpture
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Dadi e nastri, 2009
Lacquered wood, glass, drawings
105 x 105 x 33 cm
Installations
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Come code di lucertole, 2023
Installation view
Studio la Città, Verona -
Rosso e Grigio, 2020
Installation view
Studio la Città, Verona -
Quello che non ho venduto..., 2019
Installation view
Studio la Città, Verona -
La forma, un attimo prima, 2016
Installation view
Studio la Città, Verona -
Il Giardino dei Pensieri, 2002
Installation view
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L'occhio si nasconde, 2010
Installation view
Studio la Città, Verona