NEW ART IN KALPA | Federico Gori | Copper Engraving and Natural Oxidation

FEATURED ARTIST

FEDERICO GORI: TRACING OF

THE EXINCT UNIVERSES

We are excited to welcome into KALPA Galleries a selection of astonishing engravings and natural oxidation by Italian artist Federico Gori (Prato, 1977). Developing a strong interest in abstract comb-sign art at the beginning of his career, Gori aims to capture the secret code and signs of Nature, across its biodiversity and evolutionary journey. Many of Gori's polyptychs hold repeated patterns, displaying a highly symbolic minimal landscape of the memories of fossils, extinct plants, and contemporary nature. Being a highly mutable element, copper oxidizes and changes its composition and appearance, giving the artwork the status of a living art piece in continuous evolution moving across space and time.

"Gori's artworks are living organisms, having their own specific poignancy. They move through space changing their skin and transforming themselves into a dynamic body."

This new monumental polyptych from the series Extincts (frost and light) is publicly presented for the first time at KALPA, in the most intimate room of our venue, where light and shade converse with the architectural elements. The piece, a kaleidoscope of fluid and sinuous lines of plant species unravels myriad perspectives and a new equilibrium between figurative and abstract representation.

Extincts 02 comprises numerous copper plates engraved and naturally oxidized imprints of six different plants now extinct. These are the plants of the Cooksonia specie (known for being the first plant to appear on the planet 400 million years ago), including Psilophyton, Zamites, Schizostachys Pinnata, Sphenophyllum, and Anomozamites.

"Bringing these plants back to life means establishing a bridge between the past and the present and placing both temporal spaces on the same plane."

For the creation of the footprints, the artist drew on the few archaeological finds we have of these plants, which were present in life on Earth at different prehistoric times. The imprints have been transformed into repeatable patterns through the use of acids and salts, and then... time does the rest.

By its nature, copper tends to react to events and its surroundings, thus further revealing overall unforeseen geographies and nuances of colour. The concepts of unpredictability and the lack of control over the work are key aspects of Gori's poetics, developing around the impossibility for man to rule time or completely dominate matter, which often eludes all human logic. As in a dance between two souls, the artist’s gesture is continued by the ineluctable evolution of the material itself.

"Copper, which par excellence symbolizes natural change and the passage of time, was painted and oxidized, initiating a process of metamorphosis."

At the heart of Gori’s work lies the artist's reflection on the circularity of time and the broad concept of metamorphosis, as visible in the captivating modular wall piece Perenne 07 presenting the imprint of a tree trunk cross-section acting as a generator of images.

In every single artwork of the series Perenne there is an internal time in both the work and the material from which it is made, displaying at the same instant the present and the past. On the one hand, the engravings are destined to change slightly with time, and on the other, trees are not only the object of the artist's creative inspiration but also storytellers in their own right. Their rings are a true natural archive that reveals the story of the forest they have lived in, their age and health, as well as the evolution of the climate and past natural events.

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." - Federico Gori in the AMAN New York urban sanctuary

As part of KALPA's art consultancy project for the newly opened AMAN New York hotel in the heart of Manhattan, Gori devised Mirroring Gardens, a breathtaking site-specific large-scale installation for the spectacular social areas of the 14th floor.

Following the art direction of KALPA's founder Olga Niescier, the piece can be found at the entrance to the public space in the hotel welcoming guests to the lounge of two beautiful restaurants, one of them the Fine Italian Dining Restaurant Arva. In Mirroring Gardens each plate presents a different Mediterranean herb, commonly used in traditional Italian cuisine. The overall artwork creates a subtle and sophisticated botanical garden, as well as standing as a celebration of Italian plant heritage and culinary culture.

"The alternation of light and shade creates a fluid space in which Gori's sinuous, often explosive, and unexpected handwriting offers an interpretation of the sensitive world."