Paolo Serra

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Paolo Serra (* 1946 in Morciano di Romagna ) is an Italian painter . He lives and works in Castelleale di San Clemente .

Life

Paolo Serra was born in Morciano di Romagna in 1946. His father was a model maker for shoes in Rimini . In 1955 the family moves to Northampton , England . There he got to know Italian art, especially that of the 14th century, thanks to his primary school teacher. He was attracted to museums and galleries very early on. His first personal exhibition took place in 1962 at Northampton's Century Gallery . In the same year the Arts Council of Great Britain granted him various grants and bought one of his works. Thereupon he gave up painting in order to devote himself to assemblages and works that he calls “constructions”. He starts exhibiting again in the 1970s and is based in London, Amsterdam ( Stedelijk Museum ), Paris (Salon des Réalités Nouvelles) and at the 12th São Paulo Biennale , Brazil . In 1976 he created a 24 square meter fresco in the Chappel at All Saints Middle School in Northampton. In the same year, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam acquires one of his works. In the early 80s, when artistic maturity reached its peak, Serra decided to return to Rimini. There he reflected on the painting and fresco technique of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and developed a new form of use of color and visual language. Since then, invitations to the most important art fairs such as FIAC in Paris, Art Cologne and Art Basel have followed .

plant

Effective color and material contrasts, perspective effects, knowledge of traditional painting techniques as well as the combination of mathematical and scientific principles with effects left purely to chance characterize Paolo Serra's work. He uses ancient processes such as pigments bound with egg yolk, which are mixed by the artist in his own studio, uses lacquer glazes on wooden panels as well as gold leaf or gold composition as a background. Nevertheless, Serra is able to translate this into its very own artistic language, which is fully integrated into the development of modern and contemporary art. The compositions based on the basic shapes of the square and rectangle, in which monochrome surfaces seem to float over the background, consist of a layering of up to several hundred wafer-thin colored or lacquer glazes. A lengthy process that allows the artist to gradually get closer to the desired end result and fine-tune it again and again, while at the same time revealing the creation process to the viewer in every detail.

Exhibitions (selection)

Works in public collections

bibliography

  • Paolo Serra - opere 1961-2007 . Edizione Gli Ori, Prato, 2007

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Source: Paolo Serra - opere 1961-2007 . Edizione Gli Ori, Prato, 2007, p. 173
personal data
SURNAME Serra, Paolo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian painter
DATE OF BIRTH 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Morciano di Romagna