GIANNI DESSÍ

1955, Rome, Italy

Gianni Dessì is one of the leading figures of the Nuova Scuola Romana, associated with the experience of the Pastificio Cerere in the 1980s. His painting often extends beyond the boundaries of the canvas, expanding into space through matter, symbols and environmental interventions.

Pictorial gesture, stage design and three-dimensional research coexist in his work, producing artworks that transform colour and surface into a physical and emotional experience. He has participated several times in the Venice Biennale and exhibited in major international museums and institutions.

In In Cornice, the first impact comes from the yellow: full, absolute and almost physical. It is not simply a background colour, but a presence that occupies the entire work, extending across both canvas and frame, as often happens in Gianni Dessì’s practice.

The two vertical lines at the sides seem to create a frame within the frame, defining a more intimate space in which the central mark appears. This form may suggest a bust or a figure just beginning to emerge: a head, two arms and two hands. One hand points upwards, the other downwards, as though the work were holding together two opposing directions: sky and earth, thought and body, vision and matter.

The painting does not tell a precise story, but leaves behind a presence. Something human, archaic and almost ritualistic seems to emerge from the surface. Its strength lies precisely in its ability to transform an essential pictorial gesture into an image that remains with the viewer, luminous and mysterious.