INIZIO
BY FRANCESCO BALZANO
For STUDIOTWENTYSEVEN’s inaugural solo exhibition in New York, gallerists Nacho Polo and Robert Onuska considered only one artist: Francesco Balzano
Balzano is, in many ways, the quintessential STUDIOTWENTYSEVEN artist. His work embodies the exquisite tension that Polo and Onuska are always seeking, both for the gallery and for their personal collection. That tension — between classical forms and contemporary ingenuity, serene nature and innovative urbanity, timeliness and timelessness — is what gives Balzano’s work a sense of enigmatic complexity within a deceptively simple aesthetic, inviting the viewer to discover personal and multifaceted meanings
Polo and Onuska think of Balzano as foundational to their work and lives. He was one of the first artists they collected and among the first they represented when launching the gallery. It feels fated, then, that Balzano’s work is largely about foundations — the elemental forms and materials that undergird the history of humanity and uphold contemporary life. The symbiosis the artist and the gallerists have found in building their practices is rare, so it seems inevitable that Balzano makeS his New York solo debut with STUDIOTWENTYSEVEN
Balzano’s exhibition, entitled Inizio, is aptly an investigation of origin of things. It comprises two series of works that epitomize the artist’s values and vision: rooted in simplicity, craftsmanship, and the use of NOBLE materials, they are meditative and playful explorations of intimacy and monumentality. With a bold sculptural vocabulary, Balzano brings us to the deepest parts of our soul and the bedrock of our humanity
The first series, “Inizio,” is an ode to the power of nature and to the sculptural soul of the forest. With primordial forms, the artist raises questions about the duality of monumentality and absence. In curating the exhibition, Balzano, Polo, and Onuska seek to create an abyss in the beating heart of the metropolis, inviting contemplation on the fragility of nature in an ever-innovating world. The works ask us to consider the precariousness of our natural resources and how we might learn to treasure the earth’s simple gifts
The second series, “Loci,” is a complimentary musing on the meaning of place. Again playing with scale, Balzano ponders how certain places can take on extraordinary significance in the construction of our personal and collective identities. He asks questions about what places can hold for us, how even the most public spaces can become emblems of our most intimate thoughts. Comprising six precious cases with delicate and monolithic characters, the series considers how we protect what is most dear to us and construct personal temples to safeguard what is most essential
Francesco balzano’s debut new york solo exhibition, INizio, is ON VIEW FROM SEPTEMBER 4TH TO OCTOBER 4TH at studiotwentyseven new york gallery. With curation and scenography by Nacho polo and Robert onuska, it is the gallery’s inaugural exhibition of a solo artist
Scenography
by Nacho Polo & Robert Onuska
IN DESIGNING THIS INAUGURAL EXHIBITION, CURATORS NACHO POLO AND ROBERT ONUSKA CAREFULLY CONSIDERED HOW TO CREATE A SCENOGRAPHY IN THEIR HISTORIC TRIBECA GALLERY THAT WOULD SERVE AS A WORTHY DIALOGUE WITH THE TIMELESS GRANDEUR AND CONTEMPORARY RESTRAINT THAT INFUSES FRANCESCO BALZANO’S WORK. THEY KNEW IT WOULD HAVE TO BE SOMETHING MONUMENTAL, BOTH BECAUSE OF THE DEPTH OF THE TRIO’S ARTISTIC PARTNERSHIP AND BECAUSE OF HOW BALZANO’S WORK SO PRECISELY EXEMPLIFIES WHO THEY ARE AS COLLECTORS AND GALLERISTS
WHAT POLO AND ONUSKA CREATED IS A REMARKABLE CELEBRATION OF BALZANO’S WORK AND THE GALLERY SPACE ALIKE, CAPTURING THE ELEGANCE OF A BYGONE CITY AND THE PROMISE OF A FUTURE YET TO BE REVEALED. WITH THEIR BEGUILING VISION, THEY HAVE GIVEN A BESPOKE AND BREATHTAKING GIFT, NOT ONLY TO FRANCESCO, BUT TO THE CITY OF NEW YORK ITSELF
A PLAY OF CONCEALMENT AND REVELATION, THE SCENERY IS BRILLIANT FOR ITS DECEPTIVE SIMPLICITY AND HAUNTING LYRICISM. EVERY ELEMENT OF THE SOARING NEO-CLASSICAL GALLERY IS DRAPED IN DROP CLOTH, ALLOWING BALZANO’S WORKS TO TAKE CENTER STAGE AND CREATING A THRILLING SENSE OF ANTICIPATION, AS IF THE CURTAIN WERE ABOUT TO RISE. A DRAMATIC YET SUBTLE LIGHTING DESIGN FOCUSES OUR ATTENTION ON EACH OF BALZANO’S EIGHT WORKS, GUIDING THE EYE TO DELVE INTO THE RICH NARRATIVE THAT EACH OFFERS WITHOUT DISTRACTION
WE ARE COCOONED IN THIS GRAND SPACE, SOFTLY HELD BY THE GENTLE FOLDS OF FABRIC AND THE GENTLE CASCADING OF LIGHT, INVITING US TO LET GO OF THE GUARDEDNESS OF CITY LIFE and to LET THE QUIETUDE OF BALZANO’S ART REACH THE MOST DELICATE PARTS OF OUR SPIRIT
WITH THE WINDOWS UNCOVERED, PASSERSBY CAN PEER INSIDE, MARVELING AT PARTIALLY OBSCURED SPLENDOR, imagining THE LAVISH LIVES AND SUMPTUOUS PARTIES THAT MIGHT RESUME AT ANY MOMENT. THAT TRANSPARENCY REFLECTS SOMETHING ABOUT THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF CITY LIFE, PARTICULARLY IN NEW YORK: GRAND ARCHITECTURE AND GREAT ART ARE THERE FOR ALL TO SEE, IF ONLY WE TAKE THE TIME TO LOOK. AT THE SAME, THIS OPENNESS BECOMES A DIALOGUE WITH THE HONESTY AND AUTHENTICITY OF THE BALZANO’S WORKS — THEY HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE, BUT BECKON US CLOSER TO SEE THE ABSOLUTE INTEGRITY OF THEIR CRAFTSMANSHIP AND VISION
THE EXHIBITION MARKS THE END OF THE SUMMER SEASON, THE BEGINNING OF LIFE AGAIN IN THE CITY, AND SO THE draped coverings BECOME A SEDUCTIVE INVITATION FOR SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY ABOUT TO HAPPEN. IT IS A NOSTALGIC RECOLLECTION OF THE DUST COVERS THAT WERE ONCE UBIQUITOUS IN NEW YORK MANSIONS WHEN SOCIETY FAMILIES DECAMPED TO COUNTRY ESTATES FOR THE SUMMER. THAT REFERENCE HONORS THE RICH HISTORY OF THE TEXTILE BUILDING WHICH HOUSES THE GALLERY, WHOSE OPULENCE WAS DESIGNED BY THE SAME GILDED AGE ARCHITECT WHO GAVE US THE DAKOTA AND THE PLAZA. AT THE SAME TIME, IT RECALLS THE REVELATORY INGENUITY OF TWO OF MODERN ART’S GREAT VISIONARIES, CRISTO AND JEAN CLAUDE, WHOSE WRAPPED BUILDINGS ALLOWED US TO SEE FAMILIAR FORMS ANEW AND RETURNED BEAUTY TO PUBLIC SPACES
IN THE TENSION OF THESE IDEAS — THE PUBLIC AND THE PRIVATE, THE OPULENT AND THE SIMPLE, THE NOSTALGIC AND THE CONTEMPORARY — POLO AND ONUSKA REVEAL THEir POETIC SOULS. IT IS THROUGH THAT HUMBLE ACT OF REVELATION THROUGH CONCEALMENT THAT WE ARE ALL ABLE TO TRULY SEE THE SUBLIME SIMPLICITY OF BALZANO’S EXQUISITE mind, spirit, and hand
STUDIOTWENTYSEVEN
