Chenonceau

About

HUGO GALERIE is pleased to present Chenonceau , a solo exhibition featuring the ever intriguing gaze of Patrick Pietropoli. Named for a château, this body of work captures the artist’s enduring French aesthetic, ardent commitment to beauty, and playful manipulation of reality.

Frequently figureless exteriors and interiors invite you to be the star of Pietropoli’s cinematic universe. Geometric gardens, glistening buildings, and golden abodes sparkle under our ready admiration. Beguiling subjects welcome our observation in increasingly mysterious ways—with direct eye contact, coy expressions, or indifference. His vision is our vantage as we tour famously French architecture. Façades, rooms, landscapes, and wardrobes are all lovingly and loyally articulated. Even as the main character, you clearly share the spotlight with his endlessly and exquisitely detailed dramas.

Pietropoli’s dedication to the glimmering crosshatch of varnished parquet, the way sunlight pools across marble, and the folds of luxurious fabrics as they variously hug and fall from their wearer is a testament to his love language. Layers of historicity ignite our imagination and create storylines worth believing. The artist delights in every detail; he demands we acknowledge them as not only beautiful, but also worthy of being adored. You could spend hours, days, weeks in the reflected glow of one of his expansive canvases and still find a new speck to celebrate.

Like any auteur, Pietropoli cannot be contained by the confines of our world. In fact, he has a blithe disregard for them. The greatest theme of this collection is his ongoing affair with subversion. Subterfuge is woven throughout. The art historical interventions within interior design elements. The flipped reflections of châteaux above their waters. The anachronistic juxtapositions of portraiture. The lover slyly slipping into the mirror’s frame. The dynamic tension of his narratives tempt us on the threshold between inconceivable and encouraging.

And who are we to argue? We are not merely privy; as you might recall, we are the protagonists. Pietropoli is the director but we move the plot forward. He empowers his audience to play a role within his fictions. The intoxicating allure is we get to decide.

What is more French, modern minimalism or Baroque excess? Who is more beautiful, the woman barely clothed in conveniently draped fabric or the elaborately ruffled, festooned, and bejeweled? What is more real, the embellished silhouette or its surround? The present or the past? He does not make us choose. We are allowed to have it all. How French. How lovely. How utterly unexpected. Because according to Pietropoli , c’est la vie.

HUGO GALERIE is a fine art gallery in New York City specializing in contemporary figurative painting and sculpture. The gallery represents an international roster of artists working in a variety of media and range of genres. Please direct inquiries to info@hugogalerie.com .