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Starting from the famous, romantic and untimely case of literary romance between the French poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine, the artist presents new paintings from small to large formats - including a work of 3mt x 5mt.

 

It was at a hotel in Brussels in the summer of 1873 that Verlaine shot his companion after threats of departure: "Here's how I will teach you how to leave", delivering two shots and hitting Rimbaud on the wrist. The episode shocked the literary Paris of the time and marked forever the amorous and forbidden relationship between the two poets that would change the direction of modern poetry. Soon after, Rimbaud finished his first book "A Season in Hell", when he was 19 years old. The weapon, described by Verlaine as a "rivolvita" (a small revolver), was recently auctioned at Christie’s, reaching a much higher price than the estimate.

 

In the works produced, history is a starting point for the creation of a particular narrative that interweaves real and literary characters, and Roman mythology in painting and sculpture. Apparently disconnected elements are chaotically composed in both “Sketchbook I Cavafy ” and “Sketchbook II rivolvita” paintings, to then become organized placidly and vividly in the larger scale painting, "Brixia". There will be also wooden objects that appear as totems or scene objects (one of them in the format of a 7mm rivolvita) painted with stripes and strong colors such as the elements present in the paintings.

 

Finally, the project aims not only to celebrate the famous episode in Belgium but also to create a fable of its own where symbols and personal and collective memories gain a new dimension and artistic potential.

 

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INFO

Rivolvita - Matheus Chiaratti

Works produced during the residency at Palazzo Monti, Italy

November, 1st – November, 30rd

Photos by Nikola Lorenzin