Bernardo Siciliano: Summertime

Siciliano has always painted with an anxiety beneath the surface of his paintings. His portraits are confrontational. In Summertime, the confrontation comes from a questioning of who or what is the subject. The bowls piled high with food, brimming yet at odds with the empty plates and chairs around the table create tension: a portent of uncertainty lies in that vacant space. The other, more obvious space or gap in this otherwise banal scene is the generational gap. The shared confidence between the girls on the right side of the image feels as full as the serving platters whereas the older lady’s despondent gaze into the distance mimics the unoccupied chairs and table settings in the foreground of the piece.

Artist Bio:

Siciliano was born in Rome in 1969. Il Gabbiano and Forum Gallery have presented his works at both international and national Fairs: the CIAE in Chicago, the FIAC in Paris, the Arte Fiera of Bologna, the LA Art Show and Art Miami. In 1992 the director Piero Maccarinelli commissioned him to paint the sets of the comedy Verso la fine dell’estate by Carlo Repetti for the 35th Festival of Spoleto. In 1995 he collaborated on Bernardo Bertolucci’s movie Io ballo da sola. He was among those highest classified in a referendum held among readers of the magazine Quádri e sculpture for the exhibition The Other Art? at Palazzo Barberini (Rome). In 1998 he was an award winner at the invitational XXXII Prix International d’Art Contemporain de Montecarlo. In recent years, he has been included in group shows at Albright Knox Museum (Buffalo) Galleria Forni (Bologna) and DFN Gallery (New York). His latest solo exhibitions have been at the Museo D’Arte Contemporanea (Rome), The Chiostro del Bramante (Rome), The Palazzo della Ragione (Milan), the Italian Heritage Culture Foundation (Los Angeles), Studio Forni (Milan) and Forum Gallery (Los Angles and New York).

http://bernardosiciliano.com http://www.aicongallery.com/artists/bernardo-siciliano