IN2 BOOKCASE by FRANCESCO BALZANO

For STUDIOTWENTYSEVEN’s inaugural solo exhibition in New York, gallerists Nacho Polo and Robert Onuska considered only one artist: Francesco Balzano. 

Balzano is, in many ways, the quintessential STUDIOTWENTYSEVEN artist. His work embodies the exquisite tension that Polo and Onuska are always seeking, both for the gallery and for their personal collection. That tension — between classical forms and contemporary ingenuity, serene nature and innovative urbanity, timeliness and timelessness — is what gives Balzano’s work a sense of enigmatic complexity within a deceptively simple aesthetic, inviting the viewer to discover personal and multifaceted meanings

Polo and Onuska think of Balzano as foundational to their work and lives. He was one of the first artists they collected and among the first they represented when launching the gallery. It feels fated, then, that Balzano’s work is largely about foundations — the elemental forms and materials that undergird the history of humanity and uphold contemporary life. The symbiosis the artist and the gallerists have found in building their practices is rare, so it seems inevitable that Balzano makeS his New York solo debut with STUDIOTWENTYSEVEN

Balzano’s exhibition, entitled Inizio, is aptly an investigation of origin of things. It comprises two series of works that epitomize the artist’s values and vision: rooted in simplicity, craftsmanship, and the use of noble materials, they are meditative and playful explorations of intimacy and monumentality. With a bold sculptural vocabulary, Balzano brings us to the deepest parts of our soul and the bedrock of our humanity

The first series, “Inizio,” is an ode to the power of nature and to the sculptural soul of the forest. With primordial forms, the artist raises questions about the duality of monumentality and absence. In curating the exhibition, Balzano, Polo, and Onuska seek to create an abyss in the beating heart of the metropolis, inviting contemplation on the fragility of nature in an ever-innovating world. The works ask us to consider the precariousness of our natural resources and how we might learn to treasure the earth’s simple gifts

The second series, “Loci,” is a complimentary musing on the meaning of place. Again playing with scale, Balzano ponders how certain places can take on extraordinary significance in the construction of our personal and collective identities. He asks questions about what places can hold for us, how even the most public spaces can become emblems of our most intimate thoughts. Comprising six precious cases with delicate and monolithic characters, the series considers how we protect what is most dear to us and construct personal temples to safeguard what is most essential
Francesco balzano’s debut new york solo show, INizio, is on view this spring at studiotwentyseven new york gallery. With curation and scenography by Nacho polo and Robert onuska, it is the the gallery’s inaugural exhibition of a solo artist