bio


Silvia Forese’s fresh yet intriguing paintings display an apparent simplicity that reveals complexity and delicacy, freshness that twists expectations, and a new perspective on everyday objects that brings originality and uniqueness to a work of art. Nothing is redundant in Silvia’s artwork. The apparent naiveté of the subject takes a sophisticated turn when the viewer reads the title and a sharp jab of irony and meaning comes through. It is an epiphany showing the underlying emotion and state of mind at the core of the artwork, as well as the subtle game of reflections that generated it. Her use of brilliant primary colors reinforce this subtlety, reminding us not only of Pop Art but even more the drawings of our childhood, where, free from societal mandates, we used colors the way they were meant to be used.

Silvia’s paintings often pay homage to the great masters, like in Setaccio (Sieve), evoking the famous sieves of M. Duchamp’s Large Glass, or in Il Bacio (The Kiss), where sarcasm and tenderness represent her love for Verona – the city of lovers – with the impossible kiss between two dogs. Was she thinking of F. Hayes? And again, she continues playing with titles in her piece Io e Una Stufa: Esauste (Myself and a Wood Stove: Exhausted), where only the stove is displayed, perhaps inspired by A Corner of the Studio by E. Delacroix, 1825.

The ambiguity and double meaning in Silvia’s titles are used as a game or as a disguise. Her identification with her painting’s objects – usually depicted in unfavorable condition – conveys the real message that she wants us to receive: a message that speaks about her uneasiness in the world, her discomfort in relating with an Italian society, where artifices and looks seem to win over innocence and sensibility. Yet, she is not surrendering, nor crying out for help. She fights with laughter and irony, the liberating tools with which she conveys her stories.

*Profile partially derived by Daniele Nalin’s and Giorgio Cardazzo’s critical texts.