Stefano De Paolis

Critical text

The work of Stefano De Paolis (b. 1992, Bergamo) stems from and develops on paper through a technique that is very rare today: silverpoint. The use of this age-old method that permits no erasure is not for everyone, due to the great mastery it demands. After having learned how to control the stylus, De Paolis has begun to use it in novel and unconventional ways. His imaginary delves into references to art history, manga comics, and robot anime. Intergalactic pilots, in sixteenth-century pose, live in interiors with nineteenth-century furniture. Their cabinet of trophies and their tea service, of futuristic design, are the subjects of a number of drawings, aimed at investigating the everyday life of these characters, between the control panels of spaceships in the form of consoles and telephones with coiled wires landing from the 1980s. The self-portrait as an intergalactic pilot, seated on a Thonet rocking chair, is the finest example of this electric fusion between science fiction, traditional portraiture, and the cult of vintage design.

Text by Irina Zucca Alessandrelli

The artist’s voice

In my work, the pencil traces on paper the path from thought to tangible form, where elements emerge with a faint voice and a slightly antique, yet classic taste, like that of ghosts in cinema.