Valerio Carrubba

Born in Syracuse in 1975. Lives in Milan

What is unusual about Valerio Carrubba's creative process is his choice to paint the same picture twice, so that the superimposition of the same figures creates a slight mismatch in lines and forms. This repeated action transforms the painting into an automatic gesture that, at one and the same time, emphasizes and repudiates the subject. His works are further characterized by the use of supports in stainless steel-which further accentuates the idea of stratification inherent in each work-and by the choice of palindromic titles, legible from right to left and visa versa without changing meaning. Carrubba's favorite subjects are transfigured bodies and faces, "living cadavers" more often than not inspired by anatomical representations collected in medical manuals from every era. This sort of narrative realism blends with a reflection on the art of painting, the accent of which appears to shift from product to process.