10 & zero uno, concurrently with the opening of the 60th Venice Art Biennale, is glad to present the bipersonal exhibition ‘Carlo Benvenuto – Mimmo Paladino’, realised in collaboration with Galleria Mazzoli of Modena, inside its spaces in Via Garibaldi 1830, halfway between the Giardini della Biennale and the Arsenale.
From April 16th to May 19th the gallery will host works by Carlo Benvenuto and Mimmo Paladino accompanied by Paul di Felice’s lucid and original analysis which hightlights the “transcendental dialogue” between the two artists’ production:
“Despite their stylistic differences, these two artists – one coming from painting to photography and sculpture, and the other having started with photography before moving on to painting and sculpture – share a singular approach to the representation of everyday reality and the exploration of cultural archetypes.
Carlo Benvenuto stands out for his attentive and distanced gaze upon common everyday objects through a certain photographic objectivity and a formal projection into space. Inspired by the still life tradition, he unintentionally captures a kind of ephemeral beauty beyond the narrative potential of ordinary objects, deconstructing stylistic references and creating paradoxically timeless situations.
His photographs of bottles, cups, plates, and tablecloths, enhanced by subtle unusual elements that disturb the tautological effect, are striking for their strange figuration. His works emphasize the importance of the immediate presence of things that intervene in creation. By avoiding complex artistic choices and trying to interfere as little as possible with the subjects that present themselves, he also plays somewhat on Duchamp’s notion of the inframince in his approach to representation. His works, in their apparent simplicity, question the relationship to the photographic image and its relation to indexicality and iconicity, as well as to the real and the original, as in his series of glass sculptures made in Murano. The three elements based on water glasses found in the house give the illusion of glasses filled to the brim with water, but are actually sculptures of solid glass that the artist describes as “glass stones”, suggesting in an oxymoronic way the symbolism between solidity and fragility.
On the other hand, Mimmo Paladino draws inspiration in his own way from the mythological and archetypal heritage of humanity, exploring personal signs and universal symbols through an allusive language and an evocative aesthetic. As a prominent figure of the Italian Transavantgarde, Paladino brings to life enigmatic and timeless figures, invoking ancient narratives and characters that have marked humanity or simply come from personal mythology. His work transcends cultural, spatial, and temporal boundaries, offering a visual meditation on the daily and universal themes of life, death, and transformation, and, notably with his series of “Vases,” is also rooted in the artistic territory of his origins, the Province of Benevento.
Achille Bonito Oliva speaks of tattooing when he refers to the surface, or even the “skin”, of the vases, on which the artist applies his abstract and figurative drawings that fit the concave shape of the container. The critic A.B.O. refers to the recurring idea of secrecy in Paladino’s work, describing ceramics as “a ductile material to display his images while offering the protection of a secretum that must remain as such in the envelope of the vases.”
These secrets are not revealed by the sometimes enigmatic titles, but they can nevertheless provide reading clues through their cultural references.
This openness to interpretation reflects a contemporary sensibility, questioning the idea of fixed meanings and inviting dialogue between artist, artwork and viewer.
By capturing simple and familiar moments in the confined space of his home, Carlo Benvenuto invites the viewers to contemplate daily reality in a new light, revealing the hidden originality behind apparent banality, while Mimmo Paladino, by taking them on a journey through the history of humanity, invites them to reflect on the mysteries of human existence while also exploring themes of archetypes and personal mythology.
Whether through photography and sculpture in the case of the former and painting and sculpture in the case of the latter, their various personal artistic languages express themselves through questioning the thresholds of sensitivity and intelligibility, visibility and invisibility.
However, although their artistic expressions differ, Carlo Benvenuto and Mimmo Paladino share a common artistic approach to the archetypal simplicity of objects and a visual interpretation capable of transforming our view of the everyday and the contemporary.
🎨 Carlo Benvenuto (1966, Stresa)
is distinguished by a poetics that explores the least say possible, aiming to capture the essence of everyday objects through a gaze that transcends the visible. Working in his own home, he photographs objects on a 1:1 scale against neutral backgrounds, creating compositions that transform the everyday into the mysterious, suspended in an atmosphere of refined delicacy. His minimal style, which denies any superfluous expressive intention, highlights his admiration for classical painting and strict control of form and light. Benvenuto’s works have been exhibited in prominent galleries and museums, including Mart in Rovereto, MACRO in Rome, MAXXI in Rome , GAMeCdi Bergamo, and PAC in Milan, and most of these institutions feature his works in their collections.
🖌️ Mimmo Paladino (1948, Paduli, Benevento)
began his artistic career influenced by the cultural effervescence of the 1960s, with a particular interest in photography and drawing. His research evolves from initial conceptual experiments to a figurative painting that integrates geometric and symbolic elements, such as branches and masks, reflecting an ongoing dialogue between myth and contemporary reality. Beginning in the 1980s, with his participation in the Transavanguardia movement, Paladino established himself as an artist capable of fusing painting, sculpture and installation into a cohesive body of work that investigates the universal themes of life, death and spirituality. His sculptures and installations, including the emblematic salt mountain in Piazza del Plebiscito in Naples, have marked the artistic urban landscape. Paladino has exhibited and is in the collections of museums around the world, including MOMA and the Guggenheim in New York, and has received significant retrospectives.
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