Transitory substantives

“Et quid amabo nisi quod aenigma est?” 
(What shall I love if not the enigma?)

Giorgio de Chirico  

Words as metatheses of verbs; metaphorically, this is how the formal geometries that shape the production of Bruno Novelli structure themselves. Constructions set up on the canvas territory, yet sensorially casted in a timeless space without space limits. 

By appropriating elements of geometric abstraction, Novelli exercises unique and symbolic representation strategies for setting up his works. The "object", when it appears, is as a reference point associated with the artist's life, the same way a repetitive element that is present is opposed to the art of imitation of things radiating spirit and will. The BANANA and the BRICK are recurring elements in this series of works where, according to the artist, the first symbolizes the nature, and the second the construction of the human thought (or the human thought under construction). 

As a corollary of systematic and enriching trips made by the artist, the compositions reveal a continuity of different times into a single level, a "two-dimensional collage" highlighting the record of flora, fauna, objects, and human intervention - structured in layers of memories.

As a result of Novelli's research, unfinished metagraphic maps in which the forms themselves particularize the plastic language are configured. In these maps, there is a duality in the action of the constitution: the artist experience and the Internet. Thus, the artist digitally builds the compositions in a dual form and conceives figures full of pictorial material, architected from his practice and talent, without being simply reproduced. Also, parts of the traditional medium, such as the canvas texture itself, are integrated to the work. The outcome is a series of animated graphics: the body, the graphics of the canvas and the assembly. In this way the artist expresses the mystery of the form itself, which is more emphasized and impregnates more meanings as the objects drift away from their primary functions.

The conection between his background as a graphic designer and his experiences as a traveller turns Novelli into a botanical catalogs builder and a memories explorer. This conjunction is manifested, above all, in the series where the flora is predominant. But his designer role is played like a sketcher, a planner, a creator of unfinished manifestos. In this way, he conceives engimas to be unraveled by the viewer. In my opinion, the engima is the reason for the artist's search and therefore a triggering of a questioning about the real, betoken in a superlative talent for the representation. It is enigma the game of intelligence that the artist exercises to subvert the logical sense and apparent order of reality. For the constitution of this reality in his works Novelli bait his production on the results of discussions in meetings with their colleagues from the Metagrafismo group. He nourishes by everyday experiences in metagraphics that reverberate in his works and the circular projections between these and the viewer.

In the maps, the effect of light limits itself to leave visible parts of the whole causing a strange play of connections, unraveling like the artist at the time of representation. It puts in evidence the power of forms without having committed at the junction of the true value of the same bars and traditional techniques such as painting, photography and collage. By accentuating the expressive form in every direction of what is represented, Novelli intensifies the symbolic value of forms and the intrinsic power of the same. He deploys an environment full of omens and expectations, not only in the static objects represented, but also in the movement of the figures, the traces of the everyday existence; as well as in the presence of evocative and depicting forms that become broken, incomplete encyclical traits full of mysteries to be revealed. Fuzzy relationships are established between the different levels in the works. They are intrusive, flashy colorful ones, in which geometric elements blend to the figuration. This way, when considering formal and chromatic relations, the artist establishes a play on the deceptions of visual perception: advances and retreats, volumes and free movements in the commitment to represent. This is, in my opinion, the structured way to and beyond pictorial representation. It enables us to also view the world as a revelation and not as a representation, and awaken possible feelings to see it for the first time, by generate, in the viewer, experiences of surprise and discovery. In this manner, Novelli builds a harmonious fusion of protagonist forms with elements of human and natural architecture.

Andrés Hernández. São Paulo, 2015.