Critical texts, Germany, Frankfurt am Main, 11 October 2010
Foam isn’t something you'll see every day in art. It is also not something you automatically associate with the aesthetically elegant or refined. On the contrary, foam is an artificial substance that has a cellular structure and low density and you encounter it on an every-day basis. Something that is used as a sponge for pots or for sealing windows or innumerable other common-place applications is not something that enjoys widespread popularity or a lot of respect in art. But the Frankfurt-based artist Fabrizio Sanna still likes it because his new material collages have the power to extract a particular excitement from this material. Foam sprays out of the nozzle, puffs itself up and expands to multiples of its original size. Foam covers up picturesque layers in these new images, even though it simultaneously forms a new and bizarre landscape. Sanna has got the power to simultaneously transform it from an industrial product to the stuff fantasy is made of.
Art is still the playing field for Fabrizio Sanna where he links music, art, pop, painting and his own life together in his works. Make no mistake; his art is a work in process. Working with foam reminds you of paradigms from the history of art, such as the works of Arman that Sanna has a great deal of respect for. The co-founder of nouveau réalisme was among the first artist in the 60s to integrate everyday consumer products such as in the series of his Poubelles: Plexiglas boxes with domestic rubbish poured in. When Sanna works with foam today or integrates other mass-production products into his art such as brushes, cables, pencils or electronic components, he is trying to ironically call into question objects we are surrounded by from one day to the next. On the other hand, this is at odds with an idea that is always inherent in Sanna’s work: the enjoyment of working impulsively and anti-academically. The artist is to be found in each of his images – and that is meant literally because Sanna has been including such things as family photos– pictures from Sardinia, where he comes from - in more recent works.
Brilliant, as brilliant as the light in the South of Italy, are his new materials – or should we actually call them sculptures? A lot of his works could not be hung on the wall –you would have to put them on a pedestal instead because they have a new way to sound out the relationship between painting and sculpture. It is always amazing what Sanna assimilates into his art. A folded American banknote that reveals a secretive view of the Twin Towers – he called this work Moneda National. Or Paesaggio Informale 2, a small-format work that unveils an empty tablet package. In contrast, Domino Ten involves a symbol known from older works for the enjoyment of playful competitiveness.
You can roam within the realm of these works because they are constantly enticing you to look at them from a different angle. They are always a terrain and playing field for trying out art and yourself. But these images and these things are constantly metamorphosing. It is often landscapes that we can discover in Fabrizio Sanna’s pictures - perhaps memories of his home country, of nature or of childhood when you traversed the world with wide-open eyes. They are the vibrant and pure colours of a childhood that bring Sanna back to the present. And it is a joy to observe these changes.
Marc Peschke, art historian and cultural journalist
www.marcpeschke.de
Art is still the playing field for Fabrizio Sanna where he links music, art, pop, painting and his own life together in his works. Make no mistake; his art is a work in process. Working with foam reminds you of paradigms from the history of art, such as the works of Arman that Sanna has a great deal of respect for. The co-founder of nouveau réalisme was among the first artist in the 60s to integrate everyday consumer products such as in the series of his Poubelles: Plexiglas boxes with domestic rubbish poured in. When Sanna works with foam today or integrates other mass-production products into his art such as brushes, cables, pencils or electronic components, he is trying to ironically call into question objects we are surrounded by from one day to the next. On the other hand, this is at odds with an idea that is always inherent in Sanna’s work: the enjoyment of working impulsively and anti-academically. The artist is to be found in each of his images – and that is meant literally because Sanna has been including such things as family photos– pictures from Sardinia, where he comes from - in more recent works.
Brilliant, as brilliant as the light in the South of Italy, are his new materials – or should we actually call them sculptures? A lot of his works could not be hung on the wall –you would have to put them on a pedestal instead because they have a new way to sound out the relationship between painting and sculpture. It is always amazing what Sanna assimilates into his art. A folded American banknote that reveals a secretive view of the Twin Towers – he called this work Moneda National. Or Paesaggio Informale 2, a small-format work that unveils an empty tablet package. In contrast, Domino Ten involves a symbol known from older works for the enjoyment of playful competitiveness.
You can roam within the realm of these works because they are constantly enticing you to look at them from a different angle. They are always a terrain and playing field for trying out art and yourself. But these images and these things are constantly metamorphosing. It is often landscapes that we can discover in Fabrizio Sanna’s pictures - perhaps memories of his home country, of nature or of childhood when you traversed the world with wide-open eyes. They are the vibrant and pure colours of a childhood that bring Sanna back to the present. And it is a joy to observe these changes.
Marc Peschke, art historian and cultural journalist
www.marcpeschke.de
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