Andrea Mancini entered the art field with cartooning in order to tell a story with his art. Through travel and studies his work evolved to focus on lighting and general forms. In this series Mancini explores the use of water colours in order to express his unique vision.
Inspired by the history of the different social gaps, Andrea Mancini has created his own reinterpretation of the famous painting The Fourth State, by Pellizza de Volpedo. The message he wants to deliver with his paintings is how the socioeconomic classes differ from each other.
At a young age, Mancini was inspired by storytelling. He saw the conditions of the people in Volpedo’s painting and wanted to recreate what he felt. Working with blues and similar darker watercolors, Mancini’s painting shows a group of people who are separated by social classes. Like many of his other works, the paintings lack detail and focuses on the blur and the general shape, rather than what is actually there. He chose to use watercolor as his medium of choice because it is fast-drying, forcing him to work quickly. Unlike oil, watercolor embodies less saturation so there is stronger attention to the forms on the paper rather than coloration.
The focus is on the absence of the middle class and how there is a large gap between the rich and poor, and no in-between. Tying in some characteristics of modern day technology, Mancini wants to show the relationship
between humans and the use of the iPhones and computers on our daily lives. Mancini follows a strong belief that beauty is not the same in reality and that when working with paint, the paint teaches the artist. According to Mancini, there is an exchange between the painting and the self.
From Andrea Mancini’s travels to New York City, and Paris, meeting various artists, emerged an admiration for Pop Culture. He strayed away from advertising and found that he could better express his ideas through paintings. Mancini is an exceptional artist that works with a wide array of mediums including: water color, oil, pencil and textile. However, the viewer is invited to explore Mancini’s water color works this week at the Ganzo gallery. The artist wants to show us that first impressions in art are the best; meaning that he works quickly in the “alla prima” style. From his technique, you get a sense of reality, and that what is, is. He very rarely goes back on a piece. Because Mancini’s works are not so technical and detail oriented, the viewer is able to develop their own interpretation. “The paintings are blurred, not so defined. Everyone can recognize themselves” is what Mancini had to say about his rapid technique used in his figure paintings. He focuses on lighting, shadows and depth; not so much the detail in the subject. Mancini starts off by drawing his subjects out in his sketchbook as soon as he sees the subject he will recreate because this technique, “is better than an iPhone.”
Curated by
Mary Madeleine De Regnauld de Bellescize,
Jennifer Kelly Hoskins,
Haley Markham,
Sadie Sullivan.