In
a rich, well-recognized career spanning over four decades, the artist
has perfected a technique in which subject matter and material are
intimately connected. Just like the fourteenth century masters before
him, Pelleschi creates his own pigment by grinding natural minerals.
The powder is then blended with linseed oil for viscosity and texture.
Each composition is gradually formed with fine layers of color that are
applied by brush and by hand over a base of gesso. Because the oil paint
must be completely dry before adding a new layer, this painstaking
process takes months to complete.
The final step is a unique speckling technique that results in a hazy
quality suggesting the memory of a place in time. Just as in a
kaleidoscope, a myriad of points of color look different from every
angle and distance, and under each new light.
Both his exploration of colors and their vibrations and his research
into the density and the weight of the material allow his work to be not
just visual but also tactile. Because of this fusion of modern and
ancient techniques, museum curators and the art historian, Dr. Jean
Audigier, praise his exceptional ability to attain a very distinctive
style among contemporary artists.
Francesco Pelleschi
has earned more than 150 prizes, including the Primo Nazionale “San
Giorgio” Award twice, an honor no other artist has ever achieved in
Italy.
Francesco's art works are being exhibited at the
www.galerieelektra.com art gallery in Sausalito.
