The Materiality of Painting

I paint over ruins. Metaphorically speaking, I feel like I paint over the ruins of postmodernism, or of what painting used to be and will never be again, as if making my way through its supposed death (death in which I never believed).

In the case of this last work, though, it’s literal: I painted it, as sometimes happens, over the ruins of a previous one I was dissatisfied with. I rotated the canvas 90 degrees, partially overpainted it with primer and a layer of ochre yellow, and a sort of abstract pattern, or of unrecognizable object, appeared (something I couldn’t have completely made on purpose, anyway). Then I added the image of a doll (from a photo taken by me), placing it quite intuitively on the upper right side of the canvas.

I have always been interested in the materiality of painting. I don’t mind a certain roughness of the surface, even a certain awkwardness in my brushstrokes: I feel it prevents me from falling into decoration or illustration. It’s also a sort of revolt against the painting as a commodity, as an object you can simply hang over a sofa. I’m afraid I’ve seen it all already, and every time I struggle to be surprised by what will appear in front of me on the canvas.

I'm Afraid (I've Seen It All Already), 2023. Oil on canvas, 50x50 cm.

This work is available. If you are interested, click here: v.murri@inwind.it