The stylized silhouette of a black figure imposes itself against the white canvas.
The compact field, concealing the character's identity, is interrupted only by the intricate set of lines that form his face. Despite being portrayed in a standing, hieratic pose, the subject of the work Breaking the Monotony is the result of disruptive action. Breaking every known compositional pattern represents the man of change, the carrier of novelty who emerges from obscurity to point to an alternative direction.
Solomostry has a very defined artistic identity: in his work, recurring decisive and segmented features identify physiognomies that become symbols, a kind of brand that originates from urban imagery. Of the stylistic features proper to the art scene in which Solomostry was formed, taking on its speed of stroke, use of color, and painting techniques, the artist brings with him the precision and recognizability of the sign to trace a path, more reflective, in which art becomes a privileged expressive refuge, a mental place in which to experiment and from which to exit in order to re-enter, at will, through the back door.
Through the choice of more traditional mediums, reinterpreted and contaminated by metropolitan influences, Solomostry arrives at a conscious, more mature and meditative practice. The mysterious character, generated by the opening of a gap between painted lines, thus becomes the leading spirit of this revolution, and will remain perhaps a unicum in his production. Now, the models and inspiration to which the artist refers do not come exclusively from the underground scene, but from a mixture of languages that fit into the groove of the great Italian art of the second half of the 20th century. In that cultural climate, informal masters of the caliber of Giuseppe Capogrossi initiated the reflection on the pure sign, freeing art from dogmas and focusing on the aesthetics of form and the founding elements of the work.
In an act of self-recognition that follows in step with a strong awareness of his own poetics, Solomostry brings to the field his 'monstrous entities' which, precisely because they are indefinite, lend themselves to an unlimited series of representational possibilities. They are Individuals - so titled by the artist - within a collectivity; they are unique and singular, but they can afford the luxury of anonymity; they have no gender or age. They are, in a sense, the tutelary deities of contemporary "liquid society." They are the metronomes that measure the impulses of history on the artist's personal experience. The new body of works, designed for an unconventional exhibition venue such as the Civezzano Fort, has allowed Solomostry to dig within himself, allowing himself the freedom to step outside the box, and completely renew his color palette, experimenting with colors closer to nature. The atmosphere of an intimate refuge is thus recreated inside the Fort, which rises to the new function of an artist's studio, so much so that even the smell of fresh oil can be smelled.
The introduction of the small format allows him greater concentration on each piece, in an exercise of composed slowness: as meticulous as a calligrapher, Solomostry recomposes his alphabet with new sap.
The use of black, which initially characterized the pictorial compositions, exaggerated in Breaking the Monotony, evolves into pure color in the most recent cycle of works.
Finally, terracotta takes on in the artist's hands, the archaic forms of the tower and the dome, architectures that recall concepts of self-defense and protection. Functional places not only to shelter from what is happening outside, but also to organize a small revolution, in the "belief that" - quoting Zygmunt Bauman - "change is the only permanent thing and that uncertainty is the only certainty."
Camilla Nacci Zanetti
