Loretta Howard Gallery is pleased to present an online exhibition direct from Italy. Gallery artist Roberto Caracciolo has completed a series of 20 small canvases shown here in his studio in Rome. Available individually, or in groups, these intimate paintings are executed in the artist's signature assured and elegant style. Inspired by observing the beauty of the flowers on his terrace, but disciplined by the geometry of the square format, the ensuing suite was a constructive product of the Covid-19 lockdown.
As Caracciolo writes about the experience:
Circumstances, unexpected events, accidents, the moments of loss, the instances of tension all contribute to throw us off-balance, weaken our certainties and push us forwards towards change. As horrifying as the Covid 19 pandemic has been, it has been for many, and for me certainly, an opportunity to rethink what I am and where I was with my work. It drew me out of a personal stasis, with its shocking impact. The last year and a half have been challenging, and as everything slowed down with the strict lockdown we faced here in Italy there was a forced acceleration in learning, a quick adaptation to the new world we lived in.
This is how I found myself back in my studio by the basilica of the Quattro Santi, not far from the Colosseum, working on dozens of small paintings, all 30 by 30 centimeters (just barely under one foot square), and experimenting with new gestures, building a new grammar, using the series to move in multiple directions. The format is one that I am comfortable with, that I have used for many years, to the point that it has become something similar to a visual diary, a place where I have recorded every phase and every period of my progression as a painter. The one-foot square scale is – for me – the perfect emotional space that is right in front of me, at arm’s length, which my sight can contain at one glance, that a fast twist of the wrist can cover in a single stroke. Working small is my way of seeking out the monumental within the intimate, the everlasting measured in seconds.
All paintings are small and can be easily shipped from Rome. For inquiries and/or information please contact Anthony@lorettahoward.com