SIRO CUGUSI: IMMINENCE

“In a canvas, everything is possible,” says Siro Cugusi. “Maybe it’s a way to be free.” A century after Breton’s Manifesto of Surrealism was first published, Siro Cugusi: Imminence celebrates nature, experience and the power of imagination. The exhibition brings together seventeen paintings by the Italian artist, who revisits the traditional genres of landscape, still-life and portraiture to offer alternative worlds unencumbered by reality or preconception.

Alternative natures

Nature is the protagonist in Siro Cugusi’s paintings, invariably transformed by surprising additions. Lush fields and brightly coloured seas coexist with geometric shapes, tubular structures and everyday objects including ceramics and cloths. Contrasts in perspective and brushwork lend a dream-like quality, while recognisable symbolism and art-historical echoes make the scenes familiar.

Plants and trees in Cugusi’s landscapes recall Henri Rousseau’s jungle paintings or the stylised forms of Tarsila do Amaral, while his ingenious use of perspective draws on Italian Renaissance figures such as Piero della Francesca, along with metaphysical and surrealist art. The subdued evening light in Cugusi’s scenes creates a sense of timelessness, while the wind rushing through grass suggests dynamism and change. His rich palette of greens and pale pink skin tones connect to the Renaissance nude, and boldly coloured dots or waves add energy. Various scenes feature a furry red spiral, a symbol of the cycle of life whose shape echoes the intricate spirals in the artworks and buildings of Sardinia’s Nuragic civilisation. “I think the work of art should be complex enough to offer new secrets,” says Cugusi, whose paintings merge diverse elements into an other-worldly whole.

Exploration and experience

The scale of Cugusi’s paintings makes for a profoundly physical experience, with the viewer cast as an explorer of strange, unpopulated landscapes. Paths are a recurring feature, suggesting a journey into an alternative reality; in their absence, an open sea or a curtain drawn aside has the same effect. These proposed odysseys reflect Cugusi’s creative process, which involves photographing and returning to his canvasses over long periods of time. “It’s a constant search. It’s about getting lost inside the painting,” he explains.

Cugusi uses voluminous forms together with objects such as tables, vases and plant stands to bring physicality to his landscapes. “I want to feel, not only to see,” explains the artist, who often sculpts in clay before incorporating new elements to his work. “What interests me are the shapes in the paintings. They’re a way to give weight. Colour is secondary to shape.” The flared cone is a recurring feature, appearing in a range of sculptural formats, as a butterfly wing or even a stylised breast. “I’m still wondering what it is about this shape that attracts my attention,” the artist acknowledges, “but these elements already exist in sketches I made as a child.”

Contrast and tension are important for Cugusi, who insists that, “nice, dreamy paintings don’t interest me.” Geometrical features are set against greenery, while visceral pink skin contrasts with structures in metal, marble or stone. Stillness is offset by moving grasses or choppy waves, while broken branches or ceramics suggest violence or unease. “I think my job is to find a good balance between the elements,” summarises the artist, “to break the dreamscape with something disturbing or uncanny.”

Imminence and beloved imagination

In his Manifesto of Surrealism (1924), André Breton states, “Imagination alone offers me some intimation of what can be.” One hundred years later, Siro Cugusi’s paintings invite the viewer to suspend disbelief, leave logic aside and step into alternative realities. “Something is going to happen but we don’t really know what,” explains Cugusi, whose scenes are imbued with a sense of imminence. Motifs such as falling objects or red dots suspended in the air accentuate this feeling, suggesting that time is momentarily on pause.

Cugusi acknowledges that his most recent works — often inspired by his home, garden and surroundings in Sardinia — can be viewed as “representations of something we are going to lose,” yet his focus is far from pessimistic. Naïve elements infuse the works with joy, while the artist’s sense of balance and structure instil calm. Pomegranates, long understood as a symbol of passion, fertility, hope and rebirth, are a recurring feature, while flowering plants and trees abound. “I always like to include positive elements, even if they’re very small,” says Cugusi, “and usually connected to life popping out.”

Harnessing what Breton referred to as “beloved imagination”, Siro Cugusi: Imminence calls on viewers to embrace visual poetry and the excitement of imminence. In short, to experience what could be.