davide d'elia turns gallery interior into a ship hull with blue paint

davide d’elia turns gallery interior into a ship hull with blue paint
all images courtesy of davide d’elia

using nineteen canvases, a buoy, a chair and ‘tiffany blue’ colored anti-fouling paint, london-based artist davide d’elia turns the ex-elettrofonica gallery interior into a immersive, painted landscape. hanging on the walls are paintings sourced from old cellars, flea markets, antique shops and junkyards in rome, depicting seascapes, rocky landscapes, and portraits. the eclectic assortment of objects have all been half-immersed in a thick layer of paint, placed on a wall that abruptly changes hue from white to blue.

the paint forms an acidic and surreal interior space, immersed in the abysses of the material

‘antivegetativa’ — the italian name for this pigment specially treated to destroy and delay the growth of marine organisms on ships — creates an acidic and surreal interior space, immersed in the abysses of the material. ‘from the process of immersion of the objects in the paint stems a reflection on a stretch of common history, that of things, and this gives rise to another, much deeper one, on what remains beyond the end of material’, d’elia describes. ‘through the process of the cancellation of natural processes, ‘antivegetativa’ is an experiment in halting nature’s physicality, as well as the passing of time.’

objects sourced from vintage stores and fear markets in home are cut in half by the thick paint layer

hanging on the walls are paintings sourced from old cellars, flea markets, antique shops and junkyards in rome

the eclectic assortment of objects have all been half-immersed in the thick layer of paint

‘antivegetativa’ creates an acidic and surreal interior space

the wall abruptly changes color from white to blue

‘antivegetativa’ is an experiment in halting nature’s physicality‘, the artist describes

a portrait of a boy is half-concealed in a thick layer of paint