El Festejo, Aryz

"El Festejo" is the first solo exhibition in Italy of the Spanish artist Octavi Arrizabalaga, better known as Aryz, one of the most famous and appreciated street-artists in the world. This site-specific exhibition project can be visited at the former Church of San Mattia in Bologna, in the heart of the city. In addition to three amazing installations of enormous dimensions, 5 lithographs, in limited edition, created for the event, will be presented to the public; they will be exhibited in the majestic niches of the Ex Church. Visiting El Festejo means taking part in a strange yet amusing collective event, whose rhythm is marked by the female characters portrayed. Each of them represents a different nuance of what the title may mean; from the figure painted on the giant nine-meter installation to the lithographs.

The style of this great street artist is unmistakable; the figures are portrayed in what seem to be seemingly sketches, preparatory studies of the characters, perhaps an homage to traditional painting on Aryz's part. However, these works seem to vibrate, such is the strength expressed by those figures that overlap, split or show fragments of their bodies, almost anticipating possible movements in a sort of pictorial short-circuit. The soft colors, the wide backgrounds without details, are equally important in Aryz's style. The effect is that of a timeless yet contemporary painting, capable of projecting the portrayed subjects into a suspended, alienating dimension.ì