SODA
Italian artist Alan De Cecco aka SODA has reinvented Graffiti lettering through the precise, geometric lens of an architect. Having studied architecture and design, this has been a clear influence on the artist and his painting career spanning 20 years.
Geometric structures and fragments merge and collapse in these urban environments as if weightless in space, they appear organised yet organic, they are attached to the walls yet float away from them- some with the energy of fragments shattered in a sudden explosion. SODA’s debut London solo show, POLYGONS, will translate the essence of these forms to paintings, sculptural works and pencil drawings.
Through his masterful control of black, white and grey and exceptional shading using a spray can, there is a beautiful parallel between the work of this Italian Artist and Graffiti writer and the methods of Trompe l’oeil. Long-used to describe an art technique in Renaissance painting, Trompe l’oeil uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that the painted objects actually exist in three dimensions. The perspective is forced onto a flat surface and it is this tension that SODA plays with in a futuristic and minimal way.
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His explorations don't end at purely the visual dimension and sound is also quite important for his oeuvre. A majority of SODA's video artworks are created with 3D programs and accompanied by sound. A study entitled Papiers Colles is considered to be his best and in many ways pivotal artwork in that respect.
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