History
“The artist is the creator of beautiful things”. This is what Oscar Wilde wrote in the Preface of “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, a book where art in all its forms – painting, in particular – predominates. A true artist is able to create beautiful things with simple materials: that’s what Alessandro Compagnin does with fibreglass, which he moulds to give shape to little contemporary marvels.
The interest in such a strange material, which was only a game when he built his first motorcycle fairing, evolves as time goes by, opening up to a wide range of applications: first of all, design. Colourful and customized chairs and tables start enriching the houses and clubs of his friends and supporters, increasing the interest and admiration for this new artist.
Alessandro has now decided to focus on pictures, by transforming fibreglass into a ‘canvas’ on which he could hand-paint simple forms as well as the faces of his friends, pursuing his will to give substance to everyday life.
The constantly evolving art of Alessandro Compagnin has certainly not found an easy way to express itself. But we all – friends or simple acquaintances – know that he has always been a “black sheep”.
Works
To give more depth to the picture, the artist added a piece of broken mirror at the centre of these concentric frames. Poverty and richness meet: fibreglass is embellished with Swarovski crystals, tiny fashion details. The Black Sheep, the logo and symbol of Alessandro and his project, with a small quirk: a Swarovski earring. In the wake of the great master, Leonardo, the first to adopt mirror writing.
Technique
Art is able to rise to the highest rank even the humblest material. This is exactly what happens in Alessandro’s works, an artist who has the power to transform fibreglass into true masterpieces having all possible subjects.
Fibreglass, already used in several sectors and for different purposes, such as for example to build the body of racing cars and motorcycle fairings, is a liquid substance that the artist handles and transforms into a tough material, to give shape to ideas and people crowding his life.
Apparently, the creative process is very simple: everything starts from a photograph, which undergoes a quick graphic processing, determining its feasibility. Then, it is duplicated on a sheet of fibreglass, suitably treated to act as a support for the work of art. To make this support more resistant, and to avoid sudden and irksome breaks, the artist adds to the sheet a layer of fibre, suitably mixed with some liquid fibreglass.
Despite these purely technical features, the peculiarity of the picture lies in its final look: compared to the original photograph, the reproduction is a negative and mirror image. It is like looking at yourself in the mirror, a mirror where shades and lights merge and combine, giving life to little contemporary masterpieces where the simplicity of a material meets the beauty of everyday subjects. An impressive result from a visual (and not only) point of view.
Contacts
Links
https://www.facebook.com/alessandro.compagnin
