EN
I discovered that the most interesting music of all was made by simply lining the loops in unison, and letting them slowly shift out of phase with each other.
- Steve Reich


FURINI is pleased to open the new art season at the Chiesa della Madonna del Duomo Vecchio in Arezzo with Ben Barretto’s solo exhibition Physical Therapy, presenting a new series of paintings made during the artist’s stay in Tuscany, along with video works recorded in Los Angeles.

For Physical Therapy, Barretto presents oil paintings made using only paint and the canvas itself in a process the artist refers to as ‘painting paintings’. For these works, a set amount of oil paint is spread over two canvases and the surfaces are then pressed together. He repeats this stamping action until an even layer of coverage is achieved, following this he then picks up one painting and uses the corner of the canvas frame to draw into the surface of the next painting, and vice versa. Using the canvas as his only tool, the result is a series of marks that reveal the underlying layers of paint as well as a record of this physically awkward performative process.
These paintings are accompanied by a series of video works depicting the artist in various physical interactions with paint and a canvas. In these slow-motion videos, recorded at various street ‘spots’ in Los Angeles, the artist can be seen applying paint to a canvas with a spray while both the canvas and the artist are floating in mid-air. These performances function as visual articulations for the artist’s general approach towards painting. They embody a need to translate energy into art, a desire to go from thought to action with as few implications as possible. Both of these series represent a sensitivity toward composition as being both purposeful and purposeless, possessing marks that are determined by the immediacy of their process of application. Barretto engages a historical rendition of the action painting tradition and places it in direct dialogue with current methods of self-documentation, enlisting the iphone to record the performances and presenting the videos amongst arrangements of various accessories such as ‘selfie-sticks’, flexible tripods and mounts. Emerging out of his painting painting process – where two artworks interact in the production of themselves, these arrangements utilize the inherent properties of the objects, one ‘selfie-stick’ screws into another and then another, until forming a complete loop, selfie-referential and selfie-supporting.
Physical Therapy also introduces a new series of collage works which employ bedazzled logos and graphics, typically used to customize clothing and accessories. The artist re-configures these rhinestones and sequins together with marker and fabric pens to create abstracted compositions on canvas.

Ben Barretto (b. 1985 in Perth, Australia) lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He graduated with a BA from Curtin University in 2010 and was awarded Honors in 2011, he also studied at the École Nationale Supérieur d’Art in Dijon, France. He has exhibited extensively throughout Australia and recently in the United States including solo exhibitions at Highlight Gallery in San Francisco and at Untitled, Miami Beach. This is the artist’s first exhibition in Italy.

IT
FURINI è lieta di aprire la nuova stagione artistica alla Chiesa della Madonna del Duomo Vecchio ad Arezzo con il solo-show di Ben Barretto Physical Therapy, che presenta una nuova serie di dipinti prodotti durante il soggiorno dell’artista in Toscana, insieme a video registrati a Los Angeles.

Per Physical Therapy, Barretto presenta dipinti ad olio creati usando solo pittura e la stessa tela in un processo ai quali l’artista si riferisce come ‘painting paintings’. Per questi lavori, una quantità di pittura ad olio viene sparsa su due tele e le superfici vengono poi premute insieme. Barretto ripete questa azione di stampa finché la copertura non ha ottenuto uno strato uniforme, di seguito egli prende un dipinto e usa gli angoli del telaio per disegnare una serie di segni che rivelano lo strato sottostante della pittura come testimonianza di questo complicato processo performativo.

Questi dipinti sono accompagnati da una serie di video che rappresentano l’artista in varie interazioni fisiche con la pittura e la tela. In questi video a rallentatore, registrati in vari ‘luoghi’ a Los Angeles, si può vedere l’artista applicare pittura su una tela con uno spry mentre sia la tela che l’artista sono sospesi a mezz’aria. Queste performance funzionano come articolazioni visive per il generale approccio dell’artista verso la pittura. Essi incorporano il bisogno di tradurre l’energia in arte, un desiderio di andare dal pensiero all’azione con le minori implicazioni possibili. Entrambe le serie rappresentano una sensibilità verso la composizione come essere sia significativo che senza scopo, che possiede segni che sono determinati dall’immediatezza del loro processo di applicazione. Barretto intraprende una storica versione della tradizione dell’action painting e la mette in dialogo diretto con gli attuali metodi di auto-documentazione, coinvolgendo l’iphone per registrare le performance e presentando i video fra arrangiamenti di vari accessori come ‘selfie-sticks’, treppiedi flessibili e montaggi. Lo sviluppo del suo processo painting paintings – dove due opere interagiscono nella produzione reciproca, questi arrangiamenti utilizzano le proprietà inerenti degli oggetti, on ‘selfie-stick’ si avvita in un altro e poi in un altro, fino a formare un loop completo, auto-referenziale e auto-supportante.
Physical Therapy introduce inoltre una nuova serie di lavori a collages che impiegano abbaglianti loghi e grafiche, tipicamente usati per personalizzare abiti e accessori. L’artista riconfigura questi strass e lustrini con evidenziatore e penne da tessuto per creare composizioni astratte sulla tela.