Senza Titolo 2015

Corrado Zani made this untitled painting, its dimensions 55 by 42 cm, with dynamic, gestural marks. Imagine the studio, the canvas propped up, Zani circling it, brush loaded with black paint. He makes these bold, sweeping strokes, feels the drag of the bristles on the canvas. I'm thinking that Corrado Zani probably felt a certain freedom working on this, a conversation between control and chance. The dark, tree-like forms emerge from a misty, grey background, like memories surfacing from the unconscious. I love the way the paint is applied thinly in some areas, allowing the white of the canvas to peek through, and thickly in others, creating a tactile surface. That single stroke of white slashing across the bottom right - is this the ghost of de Kooning? Does Zani know Richter? It's all connected, this conversation through paint. Artists see each other, challenge each other, learn from each other across time. Painting lets us embrace ambiguity. Each viewer brings something different, and there is room for it all.