NERO INTENSO - BIANCO SUBLIME
DEEP BLACK - SUBLIME WHITE
Flavio Senoner had a classical education: he attended the Accademia Di Belle Arti in Florence, graduated with honours from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan and then continued his studies at the Barnet Art and Design High School in London, which gave him the chance to get to know and engage with other artistic realities. His acquaintance with the ZERO Group, founded in Germany (Dusseldorf) in 1957, and knowledge of their experimentation with new materials, advanced processing technologies and new expressive procedures, became important for his training and was an artistic philosophy that influenced his work.
Flavio was born in 1970 and began his artistic activity in 2001, engaging with the Italian, French, Dutch and German avant-gardes, intrinsically linked to the ZERO Group, and looked with great interest at the research of artists like Otto Piene, Heinz Mack, Bernard Aubertin, Yves Klein, Piero Manzoni, Enrico Castellani and Agostino Bonalumi, sharing their desire to reset the artistic experiences linked to the past, all traceable to now traditional concepts of “painting” and “sculpture”.
For Senoner, the desire-necessity to start from scratch became the stimulus for a rigorous project for a new art form in wood carving. He makes use of advanced crafting technologies, of a design that feeds and enriches itself as it develops; he subjects the work of art to changing processes of perception, at both spatial and kinetic level; he pursues, builds and recomposes the three-dimensionality of the sculptural work through summations and intersections of two-dimensional constants; the choice of colour is reduced to white, black and all the nuances of a controlled combustion and he marks out the kinetic presence of the void and the solid on both planes (two- and three-dimensional). He doesn't paint the wood but uses flame on it as the brush of combustion, he doesn't colour the wood but inserts chalk white so that all the wood becomes deep black and sublime white together.
Carved wood can have an elegance and beauty similar to that of music, as both can create emotions and stimulate the senses.
The skill and precision needed to carve wood require great skill and talent, similar to those required to perform or compose high-quality music. Moreover, both wood carving and music are art forms that can transmit deep emotions and connect with the soul, creating a unique and engaging sensory experience. This makes wood sculpture and music two forms of artistic expression that share a natural beauty and profound harmony.
Observing the sculptures in this solo exhibition dedicated to Flavio Senoner, one is drawn into a world of wonder and surprise.
Senoner's sculptures are abstract works, some developed horizontally or vertically, with the removal of material and never its addition, apparently fragile; others contain dowels, cylinders or inlay elements, always respecting geometric perfection and perfect formal balance. The wood used is either linden or pine, sometimes in its natural state and at other times partly or completely burnt.
There are also three-dimensional sculptures that have the strength of totems.
Powerful and imposing, silent and spiritual presences, the transparency between the stacked strips makes everything around them part of the sculpture itself, in perfect eurhythmy.
This method of working lends a sense of depth and contrast to his sculptures, creating a unique and special effect. They are a combination of nature and artistic expression, of art and harmony which, together with the contrast between the natural beauty of the wood and the addition of colour, chalk or burn marks, are striking in their originality; others are carved with intricate detail, creating an illusion of movement and depth.
In their materiality and three-dimensionality, Senoner's works are inspired by nature and music. They are minimalist pieces that capture the viewer's attention with their beauty and complexity. Senoner proceeds slowly, starting from an idea that becomes a project and then letting the material speak to him and allowing his heart to guide his hand.
And this is how the sculptures interact with the space around them, creating a perfect balance between form, space, light and matter. As we look at his sculptures, we can perceive a kind of harmony similar to what we feel when we listen to a melody, a visual harmony.
Besides being a talented sculptor who creates out-of-the-ordinary sculptures, Flavio Senoner is also a great music lover and, together with his wife, who is a musician, they have passed this love on to their children.
Isabella Del Guerra, 2024
Galleria Gagliardi-2024: solo exhibition by Flavio Senoner "Nero intenso - Bianco sublime" curated by Stefano Gagliardi
