Francesco Lauretta on Painting as a Living Language

In an interview with Damiano Gullì for Artribune, Francesco Lauretta (born 1964 in Ispica, Ragusa, lives and works in Florence) discusses his multidisciplinary approach to painting, which he describes as being an 'engineer of the medium.' He recounts his early career, including his first solo exhibition 'Valori Plastici' in 1999 at Carbone.Co in Turin, and his shift around 2010 after the decline of postmodernism, leading to a six-year project culminating in the triptych of exhibitions 'Esercizi di equilibrio,' 'Una nuova mostra di pittura,' and 'Inesistenze.' By 2016, with 'Quasi euforia,' he felt like a debutant painter. Lauretta cites influences from Salvo Monica, Emilio Vedova, James Lee Byars, and Marcel Duchamp. He explains his use of a mirrored mask made by Sartori to explore reality and vulnerability. His 2018 solo show 'Due volte' at Galleria Giovanni Bonelli in Milan, curated from a conversation with Marco Senaldi, presents a reflection on his painterly past, featuring works like 'Funerale & paillettes' and 280 drawings. He also discusses the 'Scuola di Santa Rosa,' a free drawing school he co-founded with Luigi Presicce in Florence in October 2017, meeting every Tuesday. Lauretta's upcoming project 'Hora mortis' will be exhibited at Lo Scompiglio in 2019. He concludes that painting is a means, not an end.