Soleimani | el Saleh | Petrasevic | Said

Quattro mostre personali di fine residenza degli artisti Sheida Soleimani, Nour el Saleh, Rade Petrasevic and Nicolás Said.

Comunicato stampa

Castello San Basilio is delighted to present Stations of the Ingenuous (Estaciones del
ingenuo), Nicolás Said’s first solo exhibition in Italy. During his residency at Castello San
Basilio, Nicolás Said (b. Buenos Aires, 1995) worked on seven new works on paper
exploring the themes of religious and esoteric art, which he melded with autobiographical
elements from his personal life. Having studied psychology at the University of Buenos
Aires, Said has always been interested in analysing the unconscious world of dreams,
another element that is extensively explored in his intricate drawings.
On view in Castello San Basilio’s chapel, the seven works on paper are inspired by the rich
history of the castle, in particular by the Basilian monks who inhabited the property during
the 7th century. Revisiting the chapel’s paintings of the Via Crucis, also known as Stations
of the Cross, Nicolás Said’s works unfold like a palimpsest of personal grief blended with
fictional forms and mythical creatures inhabiting unimaginable landscapes. Typically
presented in either seven or fourteen images, the Via Crucis paintings served to depict
Jesus Christ on the day of his crucifixion. Referencing history, dreams and the artist’s
personal traumas, Said’s imagery unveils a contemporary reinterpretation of the ancient
body of work, presenting the altered realities of the artist’s subconscious into which one
can venture, and become lost. The subtly unsettling and violent compositions of the
interiors are formed by both religious iconography like the altarpiece, juxtaposed to

everyday contemporary objects like mirrors and baseball bats. These objects are ever-
present in Nicolás Said’s compositions, creating a tension between past and present and

fantasy and reality, extending their narrative beyond the physical world, merging myth and
grotesquery.
The main character in the drawings, which in the original Via Crucis series is Jesus Christ,
is depicted as a half-baby, half-goat creature, born out of a bestial heart. This figure
represents vulnerability and naivety, but can also be viewed as the artist’s self-portrait. A
cross is depicted in each work on paper. This symbol carries with it the infant’s passions
and hardships. Each station, in fact, narrates a different stage of the protagonist’s life: from
the moment of his birth to the moment of his death, encountering beauty and cruelty every
step of the way.
Nicolás Said currently lives and works in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After graduating in
2016 with a degree in Psychology from the University of Buenos Aires, he enrolled in the
Visual Arts course at the National University of Arts. In 2019, he was selected to
participate in the ArtistasxArtista artist training programme, run by Fundación el Mirador.
In the same year, he won first prize in the drawing category of the National Small Format
Salon, Casa Camacini. Recent group exhibitions include Llaverguoqui (Galería
Constitución, 2021), Tegumento (Fundación El Mirador, 2021), Pacífica Mordida (2020,
PM Galería), Rocío Englender & Nicolás Said (2020, La Verdi), Peluscencias (2020,
Munar), Lo hago por necesidad (2018, CC Matienzo).
Castello San Basilio is delighted to present DO YOU MIND IF I SMOKE? a solo show by
Rade Petrasevic, produced in collaboration with PATERSON ZEVI. Installed in the castle’s
tower, the exhibition is comprised of four new paintings.
With their bold colours and impulsive, two-dimensional brushstrokes, Petrasevic’s paintings
initially appear humorous and light-hearted. Often informed by compositional structures
from Renaissance paintings, such as the still life, the works deal with the banality,
melancholy and intensity of everyday life, whilst also exploring complex narratives
surrounding life and death. Petrasevic uses this playful approach to address the transient
nature of the human condition.
Densely layered with applications of paint, the compositions reveal the artist’s lyrical,
gestural approach to a tightly organised picture plane. The scenes are enhanced by his use of
flat, expressive brushstrokes that handle the oil paint as if it were a marker pen. In
Petrasevic’s tableaux, characters, objects and scenes all clamour for space and the viewer’s
attention.
CIAO BELLO, COME STAI? depicts a ‘vagabond’ carrying his painting material, his
cigarettes and his pet, a pigeon bird. During his residency, Petrasevic was fascinated by the
area’s wildlife, which he maniacally sketched, wrote poems about and eventually included in
his canvases.
The timeless compositions of the paintings allow the defining conversations of our era to
seep through their cracks, traversing themes of identity, sexuality, fetishes, class and wealth
divides. In THAT IS NOT THE TOPIC, the ordinary is rendered extraordinary through a
humorous and simplified vignette which he filled with mundane everyday objects like
cigarettes, sunglasses, washing up liquid, bottles of wine and coffee machines. The symbol
of the cigarette is a recurring element in Petrasevic’s works; it depicts small pleasures of life
that are also brooding reminders of our mortality. This light-hearted use of everyday objects
allows the artist to capture the viewer’s attention whilst confronting them with the
unvarnished nature of the issues that haunt us.
Rade Petrasevic (b. 1982 Vienna, Austria) is a Bosnian-Austrian painter who lives and
works in Vienna. He has recently created a large-scale mural that covers the full length of
the front glass facade of Kunsthalle Wien Karlsplatz, Vienna (2021). Selected solo and
group show of Petrasevic’s work include ALMA ZEVI London (2021) and Venice (2020
and 2018); Christine Konig Galerie, Vienna (2021, 2020 and 2019); ALMA ZEVI Celerina,
Switzerland (2019); Friedman Benda in New York (2019); Salon, Hamburg (2019); Charim
Galerie, Vienna (2018); Buro Weltausstellung, Vienna (2018); Everybody Needs Art,
Budapest (2017); Limoncello Gallery, London (2016); Circle Culture in Berlin (2015); The
Breeder, Athens (2015).
Castello San Basilio is delighted to present Set to Default Nour El Saleh’s first solo show in Italy. The
exhibition consists of three new paintings displayed alongside two sculpted miniature canvases.
Exploring notions of time and place, the works have been informed by her two-month residency in the
property.
Using a distinct pictorial language to depict evocative scenes, El Saleh invites us into alternate worlds
characterised by peculiar settings, each painting dedicated to a different time of the day: morning,
afternoon and evening. Expounding on her interest in themes related to the theatre, which is for the
artist a conceptual framework and a methodology for the construction of her paintings, the new body of
work explores subject matter related to the building of social and psychological structures.
In Set to Default, isolated, peripheral participants are placed by the artist in an environment that
resembles an architectural maquette or a theatrical set untouched by time. The characters, who point or
gaze longingly at some faraway place, are stuck in a fantastical structure without doors or ceilings.
Observed from above, the inhabitants of this edifice are like puppets, possessed by their individual daily
routines, laughing at a wall or donning human skin. All along, a woman observes the scene from above.
Characteristic of El Saleh’s work, the woman’s physical position and role are ambiguous, possibly
puppet, puppet-master or both, confronting the supposedly all-knowing viewer.
The muted, early-morning tones of Set to Default contrast greatly with the bright, midday yellows and
greens found in 1, 2, 3 SOLEIL!. Here, the figures are not constrained by an indoor environment, but

are presented in an open-air landscape, bound together by a red string. Presenting individuals in non-
naturalistic settings, is El Saleh’s method of inviting the viewer into a more philosophical experience

rather than a literal reading of the work. Exploring theories of Existentialism, El Saleh is interested in
investigating notions of structure and control, analysing the performative aspects of society: these
characters control and manipulate each other, and are controlled in turn.
33 Repetitive Strain‘s dark evening hues depict a figure holding the maquette illustrated in Set to
Default. This character is depicted with a creature emerging from her forehead. Here, El Saleh revisits
Quentin Massys’ ‘An Allegory of Folly’, the Flemish masterpiece depicting the 15th century legend of
the ‘Stone of Folly’, a hypothetical stone lodged in the heads of the mad and thought to be the cause of
insanity and dementia. El Saleh reappropriates this symbol to reveal the depicted character’s excesses
of madness and hysteria.
Calling to mind El Greco’s use of figurative serpentinata, or ‘serpentine figure’, El Saleh’s human
bodies are depicted with sinuous limbs, elongated torsos and extended fingers. These characters present
an otherworldliness that departs from classical renditions and play with asymmetry and artifice,
rejecting harmony. Challenging the extremes of aesthetic beauty, El Saleh’s characters present
exaggerated, almost grotesque features, moving away from authentic portrayals of her subjects. Are
they reflections of the distorted society they construct and inhabit?
Nour El Saleh (b. 1997 Beirut, Lebanon) grew up in Abu Dhabi and lives and works in London, United
Kingdom. She received a Bachelor in Fine Arts from the UCL Slade School of Fine Art in 2019, and a
Postgraduate degree at the Royal Drawing School in 2022. Recent solo exhibitions include Underfoot at
Edel Assanti, London (2022), Tightrope, Cassina Projects, Milan (2022); Clouds of Venom at Plaza
Plaza, London (2021); Where the Grass is Synthetic at V.O Curations, London (2021); The Play That
Goes on Forever at Lowell Ryan Projects, Mexico City (2020). In 2022 Nour El Saleh will be part of a
duo exhibition with Tobias Bradfords at Quench Gallery, Margate, UK.
Castello San Basilio is delighted to announce Pillars of Industry, a solo show by Iranian-American
artist Sheida Soleimani. This is the artist’s first exhibition in Italy.
The title Pillars of Industry references, on the one hand, Basilicata’s historical prominence, bearing
witness to Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Norman civilizations, amongst many others. On the other
hand, it alludes to ILVA, Italy’s largest and most pollutive steel plant. Located in the nearby city of
Taranto, the factory accounts for a large portion of Italy’s steel production.
ILVA has been Soleimani’s principal focus of research during her residency at Castello San Basilio.
Its runoff and emissions, including large amounts of dioxin, have caused untold harm to the local
population, leading to high incidences of cancer and respiratory complications. Local agriculture
has also suffered. Beyond its effect on the region, the plant has been found to be one of the EU’s
top CO2 emitters. Being an important employer in a region struggling with high levels of
joblessness, and a key exporter of steel internationally, its economic relevance extends beyond the
region and even beyond Italy’s borders, making it difficult for national authorities to enforce
environmental regulations.
The exhibition presents three new photographic still lifes that address ILVA’s impact on the
territory. Soleimani’s engagement with social identities and systems of oppression is an ongoing
theme in her practice. Juxtaposing images of the steel plant to Basilicata’s food exports and
historical treasures, including ancient Greek ruins like the Tavole Palatine, Soleimani’s work melds
sculpture, collage and photography to bring to light her critical perspectives on historical and
contemporary socio-political events.
Steel wrenches, chains, fish, ancient columns, mussels, red iron dust are carefully assembled and
doused in local olive oil. These compositions are contrasted with source images arranged into
graphic backgrounds. Soleimani’s participation in the residency enabled her to take her own
backdrop photographs capturing ILVA and the archaeological sites surrounding Castello San
Basilio. This is the first time Soleimani uses her own shots for the backgrounds; in past series, she
sourced images from online news platforms.
Installed on white-and-blue sculptural plinths which resemble ILVA’s smokestacks whilst echoing
ancient columns, the photographs illustrate the precarious and complex relationships between past
and present, power and justice, and growth and sustainability. With Pillars of Industry, Soleimani
highlights ethical questions about how powerful entities operate and how governments fail to
impose their authority, exploring the effects that industries like ILVA have on the population, the
environment and the economy.
Sheida Soleimani is the daughter of political refugees who were persecuted by the Iranian
government in the early 1980s. Soleimani received her MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art and
her BFA from the University of Cincinnati, College of Art. Recent solo exhibitions include
Ghostwriter at Providence College Galleries, Providence, USA (2022); Hotbed at Denny Dimin
Gallery, New York, USA (2020); 8 ball Zine Zone at MoMA PS1, New York, USA (2017). Her
exhibition Medium of Exchange, travelled to seven different locations: Edel Assanti, London, UK
(2018); Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta, USA (2018); Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center,
Cincinnati, USA (2018); CUE Art Foundation, New York, USA (2018); Southern Utah Museum of
Art, Cedar City, USA (2019); Library Street Collective, Detroit, USA (2019) and Harlan Levey
Projects, Brussels, Belgium (2020). Upcoming solo exhibitions include Negotiators at Kunsthaus
Photoforum Pasquart, Biel, Switzerland (2022); Levers of Power at Harlan Levey Projects,
Brussels, Belgium (2023). Soleimani has been written about in The New York Times, Artforum,
Hyperallergic and The Brooklyn Rail, amongst many others. She is currently an Assistant Professor
of Studio Art at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA.