Gabriele Cappelli & Cristiano Di Martino

5th - 23rd May 2015

Although a generation separates these two artists, Cappelli and Di Martino are part of an Italian tradition that goes back hundreds of years, both carrying the skills of the Renaissance bottegas into the 21st century.

Their work displays a commitment to meticulous craftsmanship and mastery of materials, matching technique and form to the intellectual content of their art. In this exhibition they come together to ask, and attempt to answer essential questions of today’s art work:

What is the place of fine art in a society rooted in design? Can art and design co-exist without undermining a painting’s fundamental message? And can a painting evoke the most visceral of emotions while still contributing to a ‘designed’ environment composed of other objects with no such intellectual intent or effect?

The visual differences reflect the varied intention with which Cappelli and Di Martino

approach the canvas. A human factor inherent in a work of art does not exist within

design; art arises from a specific place - without a purpose or a function - open to

interpretation. It provokes emotion.

Hung side by side in this exhibition, the contrasts between Cappelli and Di Martino’s work

are heightened; with similar technical training and artistic process at their disposal, they

nevertheless produce works in which the differences are more apparent than the

similarities. In turn, Cappelli and Di Martino raise the question that if the intentions and the

emotions are what lies behind the work - hence making it a piece art rather than design

- the specific style through which these notions are mediated, bears less weight than the

individual interpretations it receives and the feelings it inspires in the viewer.

C A D O G A NC O N T E M P O R A R Y

87 Old Brompton RoadLondon SW7 3LD

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7581 5451www.cadogancontemporary.com

Gabriele CappelliUntitled grey IVoil on canvas47” x 55”120cm x 140cm

Gabriele CappelliUntitled white IVoil on canvas63” x 70”160cm x 180cm

Gabriele CappelliComposition with blue figures IIoil on canvas47” x 55”120cm x 140cm

Gabriele CappelliUntitled blue IVoil on canvas47” x 55”120cm x 140cm

Gabriele CappelliUntitled blue IIIoil on canvas47” x 55”120cm x 140cm

Gabriele CappelliUntitled brownoil on canvas47” x 55”120cm x 140cm

Gabriele CappelliUntitled red IIoil on canvas47” x 59”120cm x 150cm

Gabriele CappelliComposition on red background with white IIIoil on canvas55” x 63”140cm x 160cm

Gabriele CappelliComposition with black figures IIIoil on canvas39” x 47”100cm x 120cm

Gabriele CappelliComposition with black figures IVoil on canvas63” x 71”160cm x 180cm

Born in Forli, Itally in 1972, Gabriele Cappelli discovered art at a very young age; his grandfather was an artchitect and designer who inspired his passion for abstract art, whilst his uncle was the art critic Maria Verdone, who introduced him more technical and theoretical issues.

He began his career in Bologna where he attended the university Alma Mater Studiorum studying economics; fascinated by the idiosyncratic architecture of the city, he started to focus on its urban plan, taking pictures, which would serve him as preparatory sketches for abstract canvases. Cappelli has always been interested in the dialogue between disciplines, challenging the relationship between photography and painting. Back then he started to focus on the nature of a term such as abstraction, noticing that it never refers to rigid compositions, but rather to fluid architectures made of eclectic elements.

Equipped with a highly technical knowledge and his personal interests, he moved to London in 1997 where the YBA already took over the contemporary art scene. Colour is a pivotal feature in Cappelli’s work. Since the beginning of his career the Italian-born painter has attempted to find brand new nuances whilst combining existing ones.

Solo Exhibitions

2013 Cadogan Contemporary, London Catalogue text by Elena Dolcini

2007 Overtime gallery, Bologna Catalogue text by Enzo Dall’Ara

2003 “Contemporanea” Art Fair, Forli Catalogue text by Carlo Verdone 2002 Artbank Gallery, Clerkenwell, London Catalogue text by Libby Anson 2001 Artbank Gallery, Clerkenwell, London Catalogue text by Helen Sumpter

2000 Artbank Gallery, Clerkenwell, London Catalogue text by Anthony J. Lester

1996 AuraArt, Bologna

Selected Group Shows

2014 Summer Exhibition, Cadogan Contemporary, London2011 Spring Exhibition, Cadogan Contemporary, London2009 Blackheath gallery, London2008 New york affair, K fine Art, Glasgow 2006 Glasgow art fair , K Fine Art, Glasgow2005 “La memoria dell’oro, L’oro della memoria” ( Two Italian Painters), with Enrico Lombardi, Artbank Gallery, London2003 Blackheath gallery, London2002 Plus one, plus two Galleries, London2000 Artbank Gallery, Clerkenwell, London Bishop Philpotts Gallery, Truro Living Presence, TheGallery@OXO Tower, London

Born in Naples in 1989, Cristiano participated in his first exhibition aged 14 in Milan, followed by exhibitions in his native Naples. In 2007 he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence under the instruction of Adriano Bimbi. During his time at the Academy he participated in exhibitions and projects all over Tuscany. By 2012, having exhibited widely across Italy, Di Martino featured in his first British exhibition at Cadogan Contemporary and has since exhibited and featured in many juried prizes throughout the UK and Europe.

The content of Di Martino’s work has do with the human body and nature, their issues, their chang-es, and transformations; with their dramatic cyclicality and transience. A focus on how everything flourishes and decays. These are the reoccurring themes in his body of work, in which many medi-ums and varied subject matter are employed.

Solo Exhibitions

2010 ‘The Deepest Part of Me’, curated by Andrea Lucchesi, Spazio liberato, Ex Brenda est, Pistoia

2009 ‘Face’, Museo Madonna Del Parto Piero Della Francesca, San Sepolcro

Selected Group Shows

2015 ‘Royal Insititute of Painters in Water Colours’ 203rd exhibition, Mall Galleries, London

2015 ‘Royal Society of Watercolours’ 134th edition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh

2014 ‘Premio Celeste 2014’ 6th edition, curated by Lorenzo Benedetti, Assab One, Milan

2014 ‘Il Silenzio del Gesto’ SAADroma, Rome

2013 ‘New Year exhibition’ Cadogan Contemporary, London

2010 ‘Made in Mugello’ curated by Adriano Bimbi, Villa di Cafaggiolo, Barberino di Mugello

2009 ‘Accordi e Discordanze’ curated by Daniela Meli, Gallery Rielaborando, Centro di ricerca per l’Arte contemporanea, Arezzo

2009 ‘La Roba del Mugello’, curated by Adriano Bimbi, Villa di Cafaggiolo, Barberino di Mugello

2006 ‘San Gennaro e il Vesuvio’, Chiesa di San Severo, Naples

Prizes and Projects

2015 Selected in ‘RI’ 203rd annual exhibition, Mall Galleries, London2015 Selected in ‘RSW’ 134th annual exhibition, RSA building, Edinburgh2014 Finalist in ‘Premio Celeste’ 6th edition, Assab One, Milan2011 Selected in ‘Premio Creatività in Azioni’, of the council of Florence, Case d’Arte, edited and curated by ‘Associazione Artefice’, Florence

Cristiano DI MartinoEvento naturale 9oil on canvas59” x 75”150cm x 190cm

Cristiano DI Martino Evento naturale 10oil on canvas45” x 67”115cm x 170cm

Cristiano DI MartinoEvento naturale 11oil on canvas59” x 75”150cm x 190cm

Cristiano DI MartinoEvento naturale 4oil on canvas43” x 51”110cm x 130cm

Cristiano DI MartinoEvento naturale 3oil on canvas49” x 62”126cm x 158cm

Cristiano DI MartinoEvento naturale 6oil on canvas35” x 43”90cm x 110cm

Cristiano DI MartinoEvento naturale 7oil on canvas43” x 51”110cm x 130cm

Cristiano DI MartinoEvento naturale 5oil on canvas39” x 39”100cm x 100cm

Cristiano DI MartinoEvento naturale 1oil on canvas55” x 55”140cm x 140cm

Cristiano DI MartinoEvento naturale 8oil on canvas31” x 31”80cm x 80cm

C A D O G A NC O N T E M P O R A R Y

87 Old Brompton RoadLondon SW7 3LD

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7581 5451www.cadogancontemporary.com