Nicola Villa - Walking in the City

In collaboration with Montrasio Arte, Milan/Monza/New York. Catalogue edited by R. Montrasio and F. Moretti. English exhibition curated by Flavio Gianassi in collaboration with Tova Ossad.

Life in the city is the main theme of Nicola Villa’s paintings. This theme inspired a large number of painters and sculptors throughout the twentieth century – from the Avant Garde to the Existentialists following World War II – and has always been a place closely tied to art and culture. The young Italian painter draws attention to the human condition in big, developed areas, supported and documented by a photo feature, taken while walking in the streets every day. The life of Villa’s characters belongs to a tale without plot. Figures, cars, signals, buildings are made intangible and out of reach. A network of minimal signs is all that is left but it is still able to remind us of an imaginary atmosphere and a subtle anxiety caused by the impossibility of reaching what surrounds us.