HUGO VALLAZZA - Color. Form. Nature.

The works of Hugo Vallazza (1955 - 1997), who died young, explore the question of truth in art. The attitude they stand for is independent and radical, reflecting the nexus between one's way of life, one's perception of nature, and one's view of art.

By means of reduction and concentration on simple and elementary matters, his paintings confront viewers with the spiritual experience of modesty, emptiness, and nothingness.

Unlike the paintings of similar groups and art movements such as Zero, Minimal Art, or Abstract Expressionism, Vallazza's works testify to a spiritual existence instead of making an aesthetic or autonomous claim.

Owed to this aesthetics of denial, the paintings are not framed, since they are not meant to look like commercial "art", but like a condition such as color or simply matter on a sheet of paper or a canvas mounted on a stretcher frame. Accordingly, there are references to Anti-Form-Art, Conceptual Art, and Minimal Art in these works.

In the international context of abstract painting since the seventies, they are an outstanding discovery and epitomize a remarkable perspective.

Not only the way Hugo Vallazza dealt with color and form was provocative; he also pointedly analyzed and described his artistic work in writing.

The exhibition comprises roughly 30 works on canvas, 30 works on paper and drawings, texts, as well as Vallazza's notebook which contains information on his basic spiritual and theoretical research.