Saturday, August 2, 2025 at 4:00 PM to Friday, August 29, 2025 at 6:00 PM
One Trick Pony Gallery, Los Angeles
Born in Parma, Italy in 1984, FRANCESCO GIANELLI, grew up in the River Po lowlands, where he developed a deep affinity for the flat, somewhat gloomy landscapes of the region which he then blended with aesthetic and cultural references he gleaned from the United States including blues, folk, and skateboarding. In his work, Gianelli focuses on places that lack pictoriality — ordinary, oftentimes marginal settings from which he derives a strange almost magical glow though, interestingly, the artist’s primary intention with his subject matter is not about investigating what lies behind or underneath these images but rather trusting their surface, and using their roots as a catalyst of imaginative power; a kind of lateral gaze, where one captures the beauty and possibility of what is overlooked which the artist likens to how a skateboarder digests the urban environment during said act as well as American Photography of the late 20th century like William Eggleston, Lewis Baltz & John Divola. “TRECASALI” is Gianelli’s first solo exhibition; the title is derived from the artist’s place of birth. The show consists of over 100 oil paintings on canvas, each 16cm x 16cm, which the artist began in 2023. The show wraps around the entire gallery, offering images taken from the lowlands — such as sheds and confields — mixed with enigmatic elements like an abandoned jacket or a loaf of bread as well as unsettling presences such as a portrait of Ferdinando Carretta, a notorious killer from the region. By stringing these images together in a single line, a democracy of value emerges, evoking a sense of fluid chaos which enables a multitude of readings and narratives.