Gianni Pennisi at Craig Scott Gallery

Alchemy presents works from 1975 to the present

June 1 marked the return to North America of Sicilian artist Gianni Pennisi, following successful exhibitions in Singapore and Hong Kong.
In Toronto, Pennisi's works will be showcased in Alchemy, open at the Craig Scott Gallery until June 25. This exhibition will display a selection of collages made from 1975 to the present, as well as a new series entitled Imaginaries of Gianni Pennisi.
Gianni Pennisi is an artist of extraordinary sensitivity; at 81 years of age, he casts a keen eye on the future foreshadowed in his works.
Pennisi is a free spirit, modest, little inclined to the noise of success; he prefers the silence of his villa in Naxos, where he works with passion and enthusiasm.
This artist, originally from Acireale, is counted among the European masters of collage and graphics: with great sophistication and fantasy, his talent proposes mountains, rivers, lakes, forests, a pristine nature that only exists in the eye of those who know how to look for it. His colours are sometimes vivid and marble-like, sometimes hot and fiery, sometimes almost evanescent: the resulting atmosphere is sweet, diffused, soft, and never harsh.
The collages of Imaginaries feature spaces where harmony reigns between human civilization and nature, and there are also tributes to famous people who visited and wrote about Sicily's insular beauty through the centuries: from Jouvain to Goethe to Peyrefitte. The master of Acireale never moved out of his island, but since 1957 his works have been showcased in the most prestigious galleries of Asia, North American and Europe. u
The exhibition will run until June 25 at the Craig Scott Gallery, 95 Berkeley St., Toronto. For information please visit www.craigscottgallery.com or call 416-365-3326.

Publication Date: 2006-06-11
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