Artist statement
Alberto Pavan
Artist Statement
I am a self-taught painter working with figurative and non-realistic imagery using oil on canvas. I paint from my emotions and memory that are unique to me. Through my long and eventful life, I have collected an archive of images which became my reference and my fuel in externalising my creativity. As a child I film, Italian noir comics and graphic novels including Barbarella, Belle du Jour, Valentina, Corto Maltese, but also Diabolok and Satanik, controversial comics for adults. These images which galvanised into my visual memory that has continually been drawn upon in my painting.
I developed methods and techniques with brushstrokes onto the canvas conveying movement and depth where each stroke becomes plastic and purposeful. My colour palette has evolved from a dark, gothic tone to a colourful, vibrant one influenced by my experience by the culture and landscape of Brazil.
The triptych of the Mantellate
These three paintings were born after I saw a nun, strolling in the west-end wearing her habit in a way which, I assume, was personalised by some experienced tailor able to combine traditional sartorial skills with a sense of drama and the theatrical.I am not even sure if nuns can make these choices, but, I have learnt that, in this life, where there is power, there is a way. This nun, in particular, looked pretty powerful. It was ether that, or she was somebody in fancy dress. But I doubt it; her body language said nun.
So, i combined some of the characteristics of the expected habits and some pop elements, typical of our present culture. I appropriated myself of the iconic hat of Maleficent, which is recognisable by all generations.
Coincidentally, in that period, I was doing bulls in different poses. I thought that there combination of bulls and nuns had visual effect very evocative; some symbol of Inn and Yang
The noir film - Oil on canvas - cm 61x76 - Painting inspired by an imaginary cinematographic poster for a gangsters movie
Price £ 250
Feeling under scrutiny in a small town - Oil on canvas - cm 29x39 - a painting inspired by old sensations
Price £180
The soldier’s shower
Cm 29x39 (A4)
Oil on paper for oil
An omage to male beauty. This male nude communicates, for me an evocative homoerotic feeling of longing
Price £150
Africa London - Oil on canvas - Cm 44x56 - A face that. To me, it says London. People are at home here.
Price £180
