SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Mark Wolfe Contemporary Art, in association with First Gallery, Rome, is pleased to present “8,” the first North American exhibition of paintings by Milan-based painter Alessandro Busci. Using salvaged iron plates as a surface, Busci composes haunting, polychromatic urban post-industrial landscapes. Varying the degree of exposure to time and weather elements, Busci is able to craft a uniquely corroded surface texture for each plate. He then uses Japanese calligraphy brushes and water-based enamel to paint evocative images of train depots, service stations, power plant, and airports. Upon application, the enamels react chemically with the ferrous surfaces of the plates in unpredictable ways, producing colors and effects that are beyond the artist’s complete control. The result is a modern-day alchemy combining delicate technique, raw media, and natural forces.
Busci studied Architecture at the Politecnico di Milano with a graduate dissertation on History of Art, tutored by Flavio Caroli. He has exhibited widely throughout Italy and abroad, including solo exhibitions at Novato Art Gallery in Fano, Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Madrid, and Sala Amarica, Vitoria Gasteiz in Bilbao. In 2008, he will be participating in Italiana, a collective project being organized in collaboration with the Taipei Fine Arts Museum in Taiwan.