ELISA BERTAGLIA
Spot

November 27th 2020/December 18th 2020
Opening: Friday November 27th 2020 @10AM

SPOT
Martina Corbetta

Giussano, November 3rd 2020

…last night, while on TV I was listening to the news by our Prime Minister, to distract myself I was opening, reading, closing, re-opening, leafing trough pages of several books piled up on the small table in the living room when I instinctively said loudly the expression: “Your only duty is to save your dreams by Amedeo Modigliani. I thought at it for still a second this morning and the echo of these words rumbled in my head.

Yes, Spot was precisely born by a duty. The duty not to stop, to still believe in our job and most of all to protect what belong to us. Art for us is not just an ‘amusement’, it is a work. We do not wait for the inspiration, we seek for it. And never like in this historic moment the impossibility to schedule something, to travel, to discuss in person makes everything very hard, but not impossible.

I met up with Elisa two weeks ago in a bar in the center of Milan for a hot tea with biscuits. The situation was different from today. We were talking to do a presentation of some new artworks: a body of paintings realized during the last months, a series of works that show the most actual peculiarities of her research. We were planning an event on invitation, and as we like so much, we wanted to create a kind of ‘salon’ where Elisa herself would have illustrated the new works. That would have been a collective moment where the artist and the collectors could speak vis a vis (face to face) in a fall Saturday afternoon.

The day after, enthusiast for this decision I set up the show. I surrendered by the energy seeing the paintings hanging on the walls. The same evening, in the silence of those short days, I was observing work by work and I could appreciate even more every single detail. I love to have the possibility to enjoy the painitngs alone in the gallery and at the same time I can not wait for sharing my emotions and thoughts with who like me is passionate by Elisa’s work since years.

We had a call where we fixed a date for our talk. We do not need a lot of time to arrange everything. The works were in the gallery and our contact net was ready. November 6th. Great! In few hours, optimistic and happy, we had a schedule. But unfortunately, with the same rapidity, the new rules decided by the Italian Govern imposed us new restrictions.

I completely detached the head from the work. For two days I just had long sport sessions. I did not look at the phone. I did not have the desire to hear from anybody. I admit it, I was worried. For the health and safety of everybody first of all, and for the economic impact we would have going to face. It is difficult. On Monday, thinking that obviously this does not depend on us, I put aside the discouragement and I moved to the Plan B. Elisa and I decided, backing ourselves up, that we had to do something. But what? We can’t do the opening, can we? So we won’t do it! But we won’t for sure stay here passively reading a plot with no hope. We decided to share the work of the last months in a spontaneous way, writing our impressions as if we are informally speaking with a friend in front of a painting.

Brambles is the last series by Elisa. As the title itself suggests, the brambles are completely the main protagonists of these paintings. Elisa is well known for her refined drawing, for the formal equilibrium of the composition and for the perfect dialogue between graphite and oil. The small painting on paper with a fuchsia conic shape prove this. It is surely a work bridge between this new cycle and the less recent series Singing over the Bones. In this painting the very meticulous representation of the brambles is evident. In the lower part shimmering plants are drawn on the black ground, while in the higher part a black sign on a grey ground balances the density of volumes. At the end, the shining painting that infringes itself at the center of the drawing is catalyzing. I think I have never seen such a strong and sincere contrast in Elisa’s works. And it is not the only work that will surprise you. The couple of paintings 25.5×19.75 inches (65×50 cm) with a black background is a masterpiece. We need time to look at them, just a glance is not sufficient. The apparent dark glaze on the whole surface misleads the viewer. We have to get closer, move ourselves on the left and then on the right and only then we can recognize the refined drawing by Elisa. Colored Brambles extend themselves on the shaded surface, making the painting brilliant and peaceful. These are indubitably two of my favorite artworks by Elisa… and we have been working together since 2013! The research—in constant evolution—does not stop here. Two works on paper, on a bigger format-size despite the usual, recall these paintings with a more immediate key. The Brambles, obsessively present on the surface, are now painted with so many pastel tones that we can not count them. Infinite hues. The play of color is on the front-row.

Without entering into detailed descriptions, Brambles is a body of original and special works. Realized during a very important year for Elisa, in which the dream of a solo show in New York have been real, they show the explosive growth of an artist always looking for new horizons. And it is in this difficult moment that we need to be present and to preserve our work as if it is a big dream.