CHIARO FUORI
SCURO DENTRO
We would like to introduce our upcoming collective exhibition Painting with Light or ‘Chiaro/Scuro;Fuori/Dentro’.
This exhibition allows the artists to interpret the title and brief description given to them in their own style seeking inspiration from historical interiors and objects to local views. It is all about how light plays an important role in these paintings whether there is an abundance or lack of it creating contrasts and dramatic interpretations.
Although paintings are two-dimensional, the artists still manage to create enough depth using multiple layers of brightness. The contrast created by the differences in the intensity and distribution of light allows the viewer to see an interesting three-dimensional image.
Chiaro (light) scuro (dark) is a technique that explores the interplay of light and shadow to create dramatic and visually compelling images. Chiaroscuro lighting finds its roots in the artistic world, particularly in the paintings of the Italian Renaissance. Artists like Caravaggio, Rembrandt and Vermeer were masters of this technique, using it to achieve a sense of depth, drama, and emotional resonance in their works.
This lighting technique was used in other forms of art such as filmmaking and was popularised by film noir in the 1940s. In the realm of cinematic storytelling, light isn't just a tool to illuminate scenes but it is also a powerful storytelling device that can shape the mood, tone, and narrative of a film. These methods were inspired by the techniques applied in painting.
The idea of this exhibition was to invite artists to discover interesting interiors and exteriors as well as spaces and objects and to create compositions with the play of light. Spaces have no definition or meaning unless visual objects or elements are placed inside them, establishing a relationship between the space and the elements. Space is a negative between positive solids. What is seen visually is not the space itself but the defined boundaries – the walls, textures of the objects and the beams of light and shadows created.