G A B R I E L E C A P P E L L I

11th - 30th NOVEMBER 2013

Private View: Thursday 14th November

Gallery Hours:

Monday - Friday 10am - 6pm

Saturday 11am - 6pm

C A D O G A N C O N T E M PO R A R Y

87 Old Brompton Road

London SW7 3LD

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7581 5451

www.cadogancontemporary.com

GABRIELE CAPPELLI

Practicing Aesthetical Sense

‘There is no progress in art like there is no progress in the manner of

making love. There are just different ways of doing it.’

Art is a primary good for mankind and therefore it’s autonomous from the idea of

mere progress; what really counts is the quality of the artwork’s outcome, which is

valued within the humanity’s cultural heritage.

Walking into Gabriele Cappelli’s studio in London, the visitor is immediately immersed

in such an aesthetical circuit of thinking and practice. The Italian born painter is an

artist who likes to converse about his work, while locating it within the wider territory of

culture; in these terms, Man Ray’s thought has been colouring our conversation s as

one of the expressions that can prominently represent Cappelli’s work.

[He] longs for polished and elegant patterns, which epitomizes his research for aes-

thetical pleasures. Far from implying a pretentious style, Cappelli seems aware of the

place he occupies within the art community, and dialogues with both past and pre-

sent schools. His substantial openness allows him to gather tighter different painting

traditions, denying any ‘progress’ in art, but rather favouring the possibility and coexis-

tence of diverse territories.

Rhythmic, tonal, acoustic, archaic and sometimes monochrome, Gabriele Cappelli’s

work refers to the great Italian tradition. Born in Forli and based in London, he atten-

tively orchestrates a harmony where elements seem to come out of the canvas, by

suggesting that art dwells within an interactive space of contaminations. Cappelli

proudly draws form Italian prestigious art; Fontana’s cuts have a new life in his paint-

ings, and Morandi’s colours are recollected in his choices too. Here Alberto Burri’s use

of unorthodox materials functions as an antecedent for experimentation and the se-

ductive materiality which emerges from Rudolf Stingel’s art is clearly tangible.

Apart from the handcrafted excellence [which] Cappelli and these artist have in

common, is the meticulous attention to a sensorial understanding; the perception of

space, colours and, indirectly, time.

In Cappelli’s art there is an act of stoicism. Aware that there is a game between men

and matter, the artist does not ever take for granted his victory; his strength is con-

stantly challenged by the existence of something that might not be his property. The

canvas in fact is never a blank and neutral space the artist can manipulate as he

likes but rather a demanding surface that needs to be listed to carefully in order to

obtain satisfying results. The red thread that link Cappelli to his tradition is the research

of essentiality in aesthetical terms; he works to find a recognisable pattern throughout

his practice that could give to it a wider meaning and that is found dwelling within

the materiality of his work.

Cappelli’s hand is an abrasive too for experimentation. Fragments of colour give a

recognizable materiality to his works, and differentiate the fruition of the viewer. These

are paintings that require an interactive participating beholder. Observers need to

walk around the artwork, gazing into the distance and then closer to the canvas in

order to unveil the apparent simplicity of the surface. Far from being a homogeneous

platform, it appears rather detailed and differentiated; as for a trick of the eye, there

is an urgency of expansion for which the artworks’ boundaries are constantly chal-

lenged by the composition of colours.

On the one hand he seeks a charming and tempered chromatic balance, showing

to respect, research and amend his technique; on the other hand, the painter expo-

nentially diminishes the formalism of the composition, which becomes more and

more loose, if not absent. More colour, less architecture. Each work is de-centred, de-

constructed, unbound and voluptuary; no dogmatic way of seeing dictates the

viewer’s eye, which is rather galvanized by a peripheral vision. Wonder, astonish-

ment, surprise and desire simultaneously fluctuate in the mind of the beholder; the

colour’s depth triggers introspection and liberty of thoughts, while suggesting a plural-

ity of interpretations.

A profoundness of colours epitomizes Cappelli’s art; this depth allows heterogeneous

viewpoints, which might be confusing, bewildering and un-stable, but are also doubt-

lessly vivacious generators of ideas. A libertarian esprit spreads throughout Cappelli’s

work, suggesting once again the nonsense of a concept such as progress applied to

art. We are on a journey that, instead of excluding practices, favours a pluralistic di-

mension where everything is potentially appropriate. As long as it seeks aesthetical

sense

Edited excerpt from essay by

Elena Dolcini

Composition on red background

oil on canvas

51” x 47”

130 x 120 cm

Untitled

oil on canvas

47” x 42”

120 x 107 cm

Untitled

oil on canvas

60” x 48”

152 x 122 cm

Untitled (silver)

oil on canvas

36” x 30”

92 x 76 cm

Untitled (white)

oil on canvas

71” x 63”

180 x 160 cm

Composition with blue and white

oil on canvas

63” x 71”

160 x 180 cm

Composition with white and green

oil on canvas

36” x 30”

92 x 76 cm

Untitled (blue)

oil on canvas

36” x 30”

92 x 76 cm

Untitled (white)

oil on canvas

59” x 47”

150 x 120 cm

Composition with white, green and black

oil on canvas

71” x 63”

180 x 160 cm

Composition with white and red

oil on canvas

63” x 55”

160 x 140 cm

Composition with blue figures

oil on canvas

71” x 63”

180 x 160 cm

Composition with black and white figures

oil on canvas

59” x 47”

150 x 120 cm

Composition with black figures

oil on canvas

47” x 43”

120 x 110 cm

Untitled

oil on canvas

16“ x 12“

40 x 30cm

Untitled

oil on canvas

20“ x 16“

51 x 41cm

Untitled

oil on canvas

25“ x 21“

64 x 54cm

Untitled

oil on canvas

16“ x 12“

40 x 30cm

Born in Forli, Italy, 1972

Lives and works in London

Selected Solo shows

2007 Overtime gallery, Bologna

Catalogue by Enzo Dall’Ara

2003 ‘Contemoranea’ Art Fair, Forli, Italy

Catalogue with text by Carlo Verdone

2002 Artbank Gallery Clerkenwell, London

Catalogue with text by Libby Anson

2001 Artbank Gallery Clerkenwell, London

Catalogue with text by Helen Sumpter

2000 Artbank gallery Clerkenwell, London

Catalogue with text by Anthony J. Lester

1996 AuraArt, Bologna, Italy

Selected Group Shows

2011 Spring Exhibition, Cadogan Contemporary, London

2012 30th Anniversary Exhibition, Cadogan Contemporary, London

2009 Blackheath gallery

2008 New York Art Fair, K Fine Art

2006 Glasgow Art Fair, K Fine Art

2005 ‘La memoria dell’oro, L’oro della memoria’, with Enrioo Lombardi, Artbank gallery, London

Supported by the Italian Cultural Institute

2003 Blackheath gallery, London

2002 Plus one, Plus two galleries, London

2001 Albany Gallery, Cardiff

2001 Artbank Gallery, London

2001 Bishop Philpotts Gallery, Truro

2001 Living Presence, TheGallery@OXO Tower, London

Cappelli’s work is part of various major private collections throughout Europe