New York, NY – Gallery@49 is pleased to announce the opening of “Hermetic Microcosm”, the first US solo exhibition of Italian painter PINO CHIMENTI on April 15, 2003. Curated by Stefania Carrozzini of D’Ars International, the show will present a selection of 19 acrylic and tempera paintings on wood and cardboard.

Since 1972, Pino Chimenti’s work has developed towards a phantasmagoric narrative in which quasi anthropomorphic characters and various symbols drawn from the great mechanical and technological repertoire of our times interact by means of a complex system of clippings and assemblages. Chimenti’s vivid compositions, which often recall a jigsaw puzzle, are characterized by a particular perceptive ambiguity and fable-like atmosphere created by the always present echo of archaic mythology and Mediterranean culture. His virtuosity is most evident in his drawing and the inventive use of hatched, dotted, zigzagged surfaces which make many of his works real “ornamental anthologies”.
“…Chimenti has been working on the continuing invention of little personal myths, strange legends, in which characters – wavering between the Surreal and the Ludic, the grotesque and the affable- amuse themselves amidst multicoloured and shaped garlands, chromatic moirés, subtle magnetic extroflexions, always sustained by meticulous graphism.” (Gillo Dorfles, Italian Modern Art, Mondadori, Milan)

“Hermetic Microcosm” will be on display April 15 – May 6, 2002 at Gallery @49, 322 West 49th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues). An opening reception will be held Tuesday, April 15 from 6 to 8PM. Gallery@49 can be reached by subways E, C to 50th St. or N, R to 49th St. Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 12 noon - 6PM and by appointment. For additional information or visual material please call (212) 767-0855, or e-mail info@gallery49.com