Bruschini | Mitografie | April 2023

Von Buren Contemporary presents

Mitografie

solo exhibition of

LORENZO BRUSCHINI

Von Buren Contemporary is delighted to present Mitografie, the solo exhibition of Italian artist Lorenzo Bruschini. Mythography means the representation of myths in art – a doubly apt title for this exhibition where the artist returns to his exploration of the world of Greek mythology but also presents a slim volume of the same title which unites a selection of his drawings with poems by the noted Italian writer Maura Del Serra.

Despite the passage of time, Lorenzo’s work remains instantly recognisable. While obviously in continual progress and evolution – a process Lorenzo refers to as ‘self-shaping’ – the artist retains his identity which rests on the union between the conscious and the unconscious.

Many artists develop a template, consciously or otherwise, but the more times it is returned to, the less vivid is the work that emerges. Bruschini’s art however continues to remain fresh, even though he returns obsessively to the same subject matter: creatures, gods and goddesses heralding from classical mythology; spirit-imbued birds, animals and fish co-habiting on an equal footing with humans as in early cave art; his own self-image, gazing out at us with an innocent but interrogative air; all mixed together, dream-like, under his restrained, minimalist palette. It is this unabating freshness that allows Bruschini’s work to continue to cast its spell.

This exhibition contains new works created specifically by Bruschini for Mitografie but also paintings from his 2021 museum retrospective at the Complesso Monumentale del San Giovanni in Catanzaro, Calabria, and on display in Rome for the first time. The event also showcases Bruschini’s enchanting drawings, including those selected for a newly published book he has created together with poetess Del Serra, consisting of seven artworks and seven poems. This volume – published in a limited edition of 100 signed and numbered copies – will be presented in the gallery on Thursday, May 4th in a separate event with Del Serra and Bruschini.

Painter and engraver Lorenzo Bruschini was born in Frascati in 1974. He attended the prestigious École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris on a scholarship award before graduating from Rome’s Academy of Fine Arts. Bruschini’s paintings are to be found in various museums, foundations and private collections including the Civic Museum of Taverna, the Municipal Art Gallery of Jesi, the Mario Moderni Foundation in Rome, the Andrea Cefaly Foundation in Catanzaro and the collection of late French poet Yves Bonnefoy. In 2019, a series of drawings by Bruschini were projected onto the façade of Villa Medici, the French Academy in Rome, during its annual Festival of Music and the Visual Arts, while in 2021, the Complesso Monumentale del San Giovanni Museum in Catanzaro held a major exhibit of the artist’s work.