Giovanni Soccol: Riflessioni Notturne

The exhibition is conceived as the organisation of a space through the installation of ten previously unpublished paintings by Giovanni Soccol, which in their entirety determine a space marked by a constant rhythm that gives unity to the whole. The theme of this cycle of paintings stems from the vision of Venetian architecture rising from the water where, as it is reflected, it dissolves.

Indeed, Soccol wanted to represent the fascination of an apparition that can vanish, belonging more to a dream than to reality. An analysis of the geometric relationships that link the compositional elements in a vision that is not perspective, but projected orthogonally onto the canvas so as not to alter the geometry of the forms. A nocturnal light links and unites the elements, giving the architecture a metaphysical atmosphere, not new in the work of the Venetian artist as it has been a common thread in his research over the last few decades.

The subject of this series of paintings is made up of ten architectures-symbols overlooking the Grand Canal, starting from the Dogana da Mar to the church of San Simeone, each of which has aroused in Soccol a particular interest, resolving in a formal and spiritual dialogue. The canvases, which measure 200 cm in height by 150 cm in width, are all painted using a mixed technique, i.e. lean tempera base, water-in-oil emulsion bodies, oil-resin glazes, all prepared directly in the artist’s studio, following research into traditional historical methods.