Slate Gray Gallery presents Così Splendido e Vero featuring Silvio Porzionato. The exhibition is titled after his painting Così Splendido e Vero da Potervi Ingannare which translates to “so splendid and true that it can deceive you.” Porzionato’s large scale contemporary figure paintings combine classical, mannerist, and expressionist techniques. He begins each painting by photographing friends and people he meets on the street. These close-up depictions of ordinary people have the power to be icons. Inspired by the theatre and opera, every portrait becomes a character. Silvio performs with poetic acts of quick, instinctive brushstrokes – completing a painting in as little as two hours. Between every character he paints and his gestural movements, a story unfolds.
Silvio Porzionato (born 1971 in Moncalieri, Italy) graduated from art school and worked as the head designer for a leading Italian company. At the age of 33, he became a self-taught portrait painter. Soon after, he was added to Turin’s Museum of Urban Art’s permanent collection (2010), selected for the 54th Venice Biennale (2011), and exhibited in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sicily (2013). Porzionato gained international recognition exhibiting in Hong Kong, San Francisco, Miami, Chicago, London, Istanbul, and now Telluride.
