Triangle Gallery is pleased to announce "Third Dimension", a group exhibition of paintings by three artists: Xu Zehui (b.1998, lives and works in Venice), Jingge Dong (b.1989, lives and works in Venice) and Francesco Zanatta (b.1989, lives and works in Venice). Opening reception March 7 at 19:00. Through April 10, 2023

Authors from different corners of Eurasia turn out to be similar - the directions of search, visions, intonations echo. Three artists have in common a special, fantasy-like refraction of reality with the help of painting. The objective world is recognizable, even if it is barely guessed, but it is transformed, passed through the color filters of imagination and memory.

The colorful works of Francesco Zanatta follow the tradition of transavanguardia - Italian neo-expressionism. They are reminiscent of psychedelic images of the 1960s: plants, objects, entire landscapes are ignited with energies visible only to the artist. As if the phases of the day and the year are superimposed on each other, and we see time without past and future - the eternal now. The world is simultaneously illuminated by a crimson sunset and cold morning light.

A colder range is characteristic of the Chinese artist Jingge Dong. His painting is almost abstract, familiar figures slip through like flashes of memories of reality. They are surrounded by streams, cloudy ridges of painting. It's a controlled chaos: Dong's muted, cool palette is balanced, his abstraction is like variations within a musical theme.

Dong's compatriot Xu Zehui has a similar mood. Shades of blue, like an aerial perspective, blur features and soften colors. Although it seems that the interiors and figures of Zehui are close, the colors suggest: they are a dream away from us. The lace curtain seems to hide the light and happiness itself, the children's room is erased from memory and will soon remain only as a colorful spot. The playpen, which once contained the whole world, really grew up to shelter the grown-up dreamers.

Oil on canvas helps to escape reality, but everything is more complex and interesting. Painting is a way to expand our perception. A little bit of nostalgia colors the memory and makes the world less intimidating and alienated. Fantasy suggests new, non-obvious moves so that we can still move forward. To create and be impressed by what is created.



Alexander Merekin