Works Angelo Zanella

Angelo Zanella

Lovere (BG), 1960
Angelo Zanella’s painting is populated by animals with a human face, with a penetrating gaze that seems to want to capture the deepest thoughts and the soul of those who are observing them. His animals are profoundly different from those depicted in medieval bestiaries, carved in the capitals of Romanesque churches, vehicles of theological, moral of philosophical meanings or apotropaic masks. Zanella’s animals are bearers only of their soul, they are not mythological or imaginary figures, only themselves, as if they were depicted in moments of intimacy, caught with the precision in the definition of the forms of a photographic eye, sometimes slightly voyeuristic. The brushstroke insists on the roughness of the monkey’s skin, on the hollows of the rhinoceros’ armor with surprisingly delicate and precise chiaroscuro tones, which fade from white to black. His is a naturalistic representation of the living and vibrant emotional reality of these animals, surrealistic as to leave our perception in doubt.

Initially shocked by the realism of these pictorial portraits of monkeys, rhinos, elephants, lemurs, panthers, tigers, cocks, our eye is then captured by the gaze of these animals, sometimes winking, sometimes imposing, other times serious and inquisitive wondering why they feel observed … or existential questions, just like human beings do. So those painted by Zanella are animals that express human feelings, their expressions are intimate, involving, warm. The artist’s is a strongly anthropomorphic bestiary, where the soul emerges, the breath of vital energy and, with it, the deepest emotions. After graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera in Milan, since the ‘80s Zanella has exhibited in major public spaces and museums both nationally and internationally. His production ranges from the first works, inspired by the experiences related to informal painting, to works where the rarefied chromatic range leaves space to the pictorial and material quality of the brushstrokes.

Main solo and collective exhibitions:
Galleria Lelia Murdoch, Parigi, 1990
Art Jonction, Galleria Lelia Murdoch, Nizza, Francia, 1991
FIAC. Foire Internationale d'Art Contemporain, Parigi, 1991
Biblioteca Rionale di Città Alta, Bergamo, 1993
Millenium, Palazzo Bonoris, Brescia, Chiesa Sant'Antonio Abate, Breno (BS), 2004
Mars Pavilion, Giardini di Castello, Venezia, 2005
Fondazione l'Arsenale, Iseo (BS), 2007
Villa Castelbarco, Vaprio d'Adda, (MI), 2008
Centro Museale, Rovetta (BG), 2008
Salle d’Exposition du Service Municipal Culture et Animation, Beausoleil, Francia, 2009
Antica Chiesa di Santa Chiara, Lovere (BG), 2009
La Fenice et des Artistes, Venezia, 2009
E.T. Collections, Parigi, 2010
Accademia Tadini, Lovere (BG), 2010
Memorie, Chiesa dei Disciplinati, Rovetta (BG), 2011
Dipinti, Centro Museale, Rovetta (BG), 2012
Galleria Fragile, Parigi, 2012
Energia, Politecnico di Milano, 2012
Opere, Accademia Tadini, Lovere (BG), 2013
Galleria Phoenix, Colonia, 2014
Museo delle Arti, Agropoli, Salerno, 2014
Rino, Museo di Scienze Naturali, Genova, 2014