William Pilè – Belle de nuit

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T293 is pleased to present the last show of this exhibition season: 'Belle de nuit', Also on view: William Pilè, which opens on July 5, 2024 from 6-9 pm.

The artistic research of William Pilè, born in Rome in 1988, focuses on the analysis of the outskirts understood as a concept of distancing and decentralization from both a social and urban planning point of view. In Italy the first artists to be interested in this theme, and in those who populate it, were Umberto Boccioni and Mario Sironi at the beginning of the twentieth century, a period in which cities were taking on the characteristics of metropolises due to affirmation of the industrial era and demographic increase.

In his paintings Pilè adopts a gestural and instinctive technique that recalls the fast and vibrant brushstrokes of the Italian artist Filippo De Pisis. In this context, the outskirts become an existential place where feelings of alienation and melancholy live: a raw representation of society, similar to painting itself. The artist's raw canvases represent a deconstruction of conventional painting, transferring the narrative to a non-place such as the suburbs. The works on display start from photographs taken "in passing", creating a voyeuristic perspective into which he wishes to lead the observer. This approach is then elaborated through a process of emptying, giving life to metaphysical landscapes and mythological characters out-lined by rough and elusive features.

The Roman hamlets that serve as the backdrop to the works are also one of the main subjects of the novels and films of Pier Paolo Pasolini, a Friulian poet and director who deeply experienced the social and popular fabric of the city. For Pasolini, the outskirts are not just settings for his works, but represent the symbol of a social reality that marginalizes the poor and the needy, highlighting the border between civilization and abandonment.

In the last year Pilè has concentrated his research on the analysis of this social phenomenon, trying to represent it with respect and sensitivity through his paintings. Prostitution becomes a key element in the artist's works, who tries to bring to light aspects that are often ignored or confined to the margins of society. "Telling about the periphery is also telling about me. It is the narration not simply of the place, but of the identities that emerge from it, 'peripheral identities', the story of the less flashy part. It is also my story" he explains.

"Belle de nuit", a term adopted in the 19th century by French artists to designate prostitutes as the new protagonists of their paintings, is intended to be a disenchanted story, without judgment or glorification, a harsh proposal to the eye.

William Pilè, graduated in Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome in 2024, expresses the desolation of new spaces with modernity through paintings that show deserted streets and an unreal light. The chromaticity of the colors and the quick brushstrokes contribute to raising the desire to drag the gaze where it does not want to rest, in those places that everyone considers not to be places, but which for many are existential spaces.