At the Premio Lissone 2018, the Jury of Marco Meneguzzo, Demetrio Paparoni and myself assigned the ‘Premio MAC’ (MAC Prize) to Alexis Harding, a recognition which enabled him to plan a one-man show at Lissone Museum. The exhibition, which is taking place two years later, highlights the artist’s chromatic density and intensity.
Due to a rethinking of the limits of paint, the artist redefines its epidermis which, although losing grip on the canvas, acquires a greater hold on reality. Harding has created a series of paintings, which reflect a modus pingendi able to stay porous and flexible, as if they were still in the making, on the main floor of the museum. The artist explained, “These works are manipulated and ‘painted’ in many absurd and eccentric ways in relation to irrationality and control in equal measure.
Some works I touch and tamper with and literally put my hands under the skin and surface – whilst others are ignored and gravity is allowed to take its role.” Harding is a leading exponent of so-called ‘processual painting’; he explores and celebrates the intersections between abstraction and representation. His work is a combination of strategy, control, irrationality and abandon which instigates the work to find its breaking point. Alexis Harding celebrates the identity and authenticity of art without any compromise in the constant search for changeable, unexpected and catastrophic aspects.
Alberto Zanchetta
Artistic Director MAC Lissone -