As a painter I like to talk about the human condition, through the representation of the human body and face. In these years I have produced different series, with similar themes, which can be summarized as follows:
Gnosis:
All the paintings of the "Gnosis" series represent individuals who, for a brief moment, decide to stop their foolish race against time. Now more than ever, this race dramatically affects our lives. We all live in a society constructed to distance the human being from humanity and critical thinking. These individuals pause to seek a meaning in things, in their existence, in life. They ultimately enjoy an epiphany that generates a truly eye-opening emotion. Here I explore the feeling of regret.
The term "Gnosis", Greek in origin, means "knowledge", but not so much theoretical as practical and concrete. It is a knowledge embedded in action and experience and conducive of a deeper self-awareness. In my experience, Art is one of the most effective means to open the doors to this "ecstatic flash".
Prisoners of Matter:
These paintings are all part of a series. The subjects depicted are inevitably constrained within the material world, symbolized by the painting "matter", and they abandon their spiritual side to become shallow masks. They are unconsciously trapped in a condition that is perceived as normal. They don't struggle to break free, like the Michelangelo's captives, because they are not aware of being held captive.
Mercification:
These works thematize the commodification of a living body, an old issue that has become tragic nowadays. The human body has been deprived of its beauty, sacredness and possible elegance. It is still far from the classical Greek ideal of beauty, as it is from a spiritual condition of balance and harmony with nature, of which the human being is no longer part.
Sublimation of the rush hour:
My city, and its degrading traffic. What causes the ordinary man to be dehumanized is also able to impress the artist's eye as a marvelous texture. Thus, a new order, and a form of beauty, originate from the chaos. This is how the Art of painting can sublimate the squalor through a landscape where the single elements dissolve into a whole.
for more information about my inspiration themes and everything else, my website is: www.fabiomodica.com
Biography
Fabio Modica was born in Catania in 1978. Being an apprentice to the well-known Italian painters Alberto Abate and Antonio Santacroce, he was soon inspired by the classical Renaissance, occasionally drawing on the Greek and Latin mythology. In his early years as a painter, human figures wrapped up in a Caravaggesque light were his major subject matter and oil paint his favourite medium. His versatile spirit led him to incorporate many different styles and mediums within his later works, including watercolours, acrylics and chalks.
In 2002, Modica made the acquaintance of Antonio Santacroce, a distinguished expressionist Italian painter. This encounter marked a departure from the representational style towards a semi-abstracted way, in which a long-lasting feel for realism is overwhelmed by a strong drive for sheer lines and colors, without completely dying out.
His 2007 trip to Mexico marked a further development in this direction, as it triggered a variety of sketches of Mexican villagers’ everyday life which he made on jute in a slightly abstracted manner.
Over time Modica has grown a passion for the nude art, which inspired a series of paintings in which representation blends with abstraction and a vivid and dramatic colour palette captures the eye of the viewer at once. His most celebrated artworks are close portraits and landscapes shaping an enigmatic mood or a piece of memory. They are made with multiple layers of acrylic paint and a combination of harsh block-style patterns and vibrant, thick spatula strokes.
His current participation to art events promoting the importance of recycling has paved the way for a cycle of works uniquely accomplished with materials destined to become trash. Modica has been performing amazing portraits out of multicolored nails, pins, plastic tools, wires and cables and for this unprecedented attempt he was awarded the third prize at an 2012 international competition called “STOP ALLO 048 degli oggetti”. His latest artwork of this series is a massive portrait of a woman’s face utterly made with used-up jeans.
Fabio Modica is currently teaching painting and interior design at the Nike Academy of Fine Art and Restoration in Catania. His artwork has been included in many solo and group exhibitions throughout Europe, especially in England, Spain, France and Italy. Up to 2011 he cooperated with two noteworthy Modern and Contemporary Art Galleries in London, East End “Brick Lane Gallery” and Covent Garden “Opus Gallery”. In Italy he is currently working with “Il Borgo” Gallery in Milan, "Spazio d’Arte l’Altrove" in Ferrara, and by the "Side A Gallery" in Catania.
The Catanian Galleries named “SpazioVitalein” and “Ideattiva” association have recently begun promoting him, the latter being especially active in the field of recycling. In Nice Fabio Modica’s paintings are permanently displayed at the “Villa Magdalena” Art Gallery. At present, in United States, he is being represented by the "Bill Lowe Gallery", contemporary art gallery located in Atlanta (USA), by the “Sorelle Gallery”, Connecticut (USA), by “Aberson Exhibits”, Tulsa, (OK).
EXHIBITIONS
2015 “Glimpses of Light” – Aberson Exhibits – Tulsa – OK - USA
2015 “Gnosis” – Galleria Civica “Pippo Giuffrida” – Misterbianco – CT - Italy
2015 “Prisoners of Matter” – Bill Lowe Gallery – Atlanta – GA - USA
2015 “Materia e Luce” – Officina della memoria e dell’immagine – Fiuggi - Italy
2014 Percezioni Nascoste – Studio A Gallery – Catania (CT) - Italy
2014 Mediterranean Portraits - Officina della memoria e dell'immagine - Fiuggi (FR)
2014 Sperlinga Castel - Mediterranean Portraits - Sperlinga (EN), Sicily
2013 Sicily Outlet Village – Dittaino (EN) Mostra collettiva “Jeans d’Autore”
2013 SpazioVitalein Art Gallery – “Face not only” – Solo Exhibition, Catania.
2013 SpazioVitalein Art Gallery - “Le forme reciproche” (tr: “The Mutual Shapes”) – Group Exhibition, Catania.
2012 Le Ciminiere Art Gallery - “Stopallo048degliOggetti” - Competition on Recycling Art & Group Exhibition, Catania.
2012 Opening of the Museum of Contemporary Art (Museo del Presente), Group Exhibition, Nicosia (Enna, Sicily).
2012 MAS Art Gallery - “Il Colore Demiurgo” - Solo Exhibition, Catania.
2012 Pennisi di Floristella Castle - “Symphony of Lives”- Solo Exhibition, Acireale (Catania).
2012 Artisanship Fair, Solo Exhibition, Acireale (Catania).
2011 CAL CAUCADE - “Peintures & Poesies aux couleurs de l’Italie”- Nice.
2011 Brick Lane Gallery –“Art in Mind” – London.
2011 Nike Academy of Fine Art and Restoration, Group Exhibition, Catania.
2011 ESART Gallery – “Art Nou - XII Salone d’Inverno” – Barcellona.
2010 Art Nou – International Group Exhibition of Contemporary Art – Leon – Spain.
2010 L’altrove Art Gallery – “Portraits of memories” – Ferrara.
2010 “Celeste Prize”, Selected for publication (painting: “Abandoned Circe”).
2010 “Art Gallery Prize” Finalist at the first Edition – Milan.
2010 Brick Lane Gallery , “Art in Mind” Group Exhibition, London.
2010 Villa Magdalena Art Gallery – “Couleurs de l’art, Couleurs de l’ame” – Permanent Exhibition
2010 Il Borgo Art Gallery – “The Art of Nude” – International Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Milan.
2010 Il Borgo Art Gallery – “Fuori Salone 2010” – International Exhibition of Contemporary Art – Milan.
2010 Villa Magdalena Art Gallery - “Voyage Dans la Couleur” - Nice. France
2009 “L’Altrove” Contemporay Art Gallery, “Lo sguardo, specchio o anima?” (tr: “The Gaze, Mirror or Soul?”), Ferrara.
2009 Brick Lane Gallery , “Art in Mind” Group Exhibition, London.
2003 Convitto Cutelli Contemporary Art Gallery, “2nd Biennal of Sacred Art”, Catania.
2003 Viagrande’s Communal Villa, “Le anime di un giovane artista”, (tr: “The souls of a young artist”), Catania.
2003 “Event’s art” – Stage Designing, Catania.
2003 Le Ciminiere Art Gallery, “2nd Mediterranean Exhibition on the Restoration and Conservation of the Cultural and Environmental Heritage”, Catania.
2001 Impromptu Art Exhibition, “Dipingi il Barocco di Militello” (tr: “Painting Militello’s Baroque”), Catania.
2001 Impromptu Art Exhibition – “IV Spring Fair”, Catania.
2000 Impromptu Art Exhibition – “III Spring Fair”, Catania.
REPRESENTED BY
2014 - 2015 Aberson Exhibits - Tulsa (OK) USA
2013 - 2015 Lowe Gallery - Atlanta - USA
2014 - 2015 Sorelle Gallery - New Canaan (CT) - Albany (NY) - USA
2014 - 2015 Studio A Gallery – Catania
2014 SCAA Gallery - Rancho Santa Fe - San Diego - California - USA
2009 - 2014 Villa Magdalena Art Gallery - Nice - France
2013 Besharat Gallery - Barbizon – France
2013 Spazio Vitale In - Catania - Italy
2009 - 2011 Opus Gallery - Covent Garden - London - UK
2011 L’altrove Art Space – Ferrara - Italy
Education & Training
2009-2010 University of Bologna – Master’s Degree in History and Preservation of Works of Art, Bologna- Ravenna, Italy.
2003-2005 Palazzo Spinelli Fine Art and Restoration Institute, Master’s Degree in Drawing, Painting and Trompe l'Oeil decoration, Florence.
1999-2003 Nike Academy of Fine Art and Restoration, Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art and Restoration, Catania.
2001 Nike Academy of Fine Art and Restoration, Training Course in Restoration of old books, drawings and printed images, Catania.
2000 Nike Academy of Fine Art and Restoration, Training Course in Restoration of paintings, Catania.