Jeudi 06 Novembre 2014 18:01:03 par actuphoto dans Expositions

At first glance, Davide Conti’s work seems to refer directly to the supremely classical tradition of Western painting of the previous centuries. This is a merely formal approach, however, that derives from in-depth studies carried out by the artist during his training. Although the gestures and light may indeed be reminiscent of classical methods, the artist’s gaze is focused firmly on contemporary issues. Within the complex compositions, the symbolic language makes use of the subjects’ bodies to reproduce the social and cultural reality of our time.
By using allegory, Conti reconstructs the most important phenomena of our everyday lives; abstracting them from the individuality of each person and seeing them grow into a contemporary phenomenon. This allows the viewer to go so far as to reflect on their own human condition and
their place within precise (and often rigid) socio-cultural structures. The modernity of the work also emerges through the deliberate emphasis on the physicality of the subjects and on the evidence that they are people, specific individuals as well as models playing a role within an
allegory.

The many references to an often tragic contemporary reality are clear in the gestures and quotations: the bonds of the shibari recall the sometimes imperceptible constraints imposed by our society; the bodies of the Amazons or the bearded Salome remind us of the variations in the perception of gender, while the severed head recalls the horrors of the wars currently taking place. It is precisely in this subtext that Davide Conti tackles the contemporaneity that emerges powerfully from behind the veil of classicism, as soon as the viewer’s gaze comes to rest and delves into the image, seeing exactly what the artist sees. This gaze does not look nostalgically back to the past, but is fixed firmly on the present, and investigates with the relentless perfection of a humanist in search of deeper meaning in their world.
The complexity of Davide Conti’s work is brought out by prints created by Antonio Manta, who has succeeded in replicating the complex and intricate tonal and colour range, the result of lighting patterns that are rooted in the grandest traditions of Baroque painting.

Davide Conti
Davide Conti, born in 1970 in Bologna, where he attended the Istituto d’arte and the Accademia di Bele Arti, graduating in painting in 1993. In 1991, he was awarded a scholarship to attend the Collegio Artistico Venturoli, where he stayed until 1998. Parallel to his artistic activity, Davide began to develop a passion for graphic design, working in publishing design for a well-known publishing house. Graphic art and design then became his profession, working for large businesses and major industrial groups. Photography was always with him, starting from childhood, thanks to his father’s passion, and then became an integral part of his professional and artistic path. His works result from a union of constant contamination between painting, the figurative arts, graphic design and photography. He recently chose Misano Adriatico as his work base, but without forgetting Bologna.