Gaetano Gentile was born in Florence in 1965. He currently lives and works in Milan.
Decisive for his artistic career was the meeting with AG Fronzoni in 1987 in Milan. At his studio, set up on the model of a Renaissance workshop, he learned a method to deal with two- and three-dimensional design. Since 1992, after an initial period where he has dealt mainly with graphics and installations, he began to take an interest in photography, to which he has been dedicated for more than 15 years, bringing, in parallel, further projects. From 2015 he started to devote himself to painting.
Among the numerous black and white reportages, we remember the personal exhibition entitled "Children". The exhibition of photographs taken in Yemen was organized by Inge Feltrinelli, in the homonymous bookshop in via Manzoni in Milan.
His latest photographic exhibition, "Vertigini", was set up at the Marino Marini Foundation in Pistoia in June 2010.
From 2000 to 2003, in parallel with photography, he worked for three years with the fashion company Salvatore Ferragamo as a consultant. The models of women's shoes he designed were published in various catalogs and displayed in shop windows all over the world.
With the rise of the terrorist movement in the Middle East, he conceived the brand "Hub", an Arabic word whose meaning is love. The logo, designed on shirts of different colors, was presented on June 21, 2005 at the Milan Triennale, which launched the tshirt as a means of communication.
From January 2015, taking advantage of all the previous artistic experiences, he began to deal exclusively with oil painting.
November 2015 he exhibited his works at the BAF (Bergamo Arte Fiera), at the Angeli Art Gallery.
November 2016 he exhibited his works at the BAF (Bergamo Arte Fiera), at the Angeli Art Gallery.
October 12, 2017 collective exhibition at Charlotte art, Menton France.
10 November 2017 - 10 January 2018 collective exhibition at the Lalimentari space in Bergamo.
12 - 15 January 2018 exhibits his works at the BAF (Bergamo Arte Fiera), at the gallery of Art the Angels.
Gaetano Gentile’s oils seem guided – or rather haunted – by Mark Rothko’s specter. The vivid pigments skillfully layered onto canvas evoke the abstract expressionist’s signature floating squares. Yet, Gentile’s works, produced in numbered series, unfold like stills on a film reel, complementing his parallel practice as a photographer and screenplay writer. The cinematographer’s eye is most manifest in his grayscale paintings of city skylines or desolate shores, where the horizontal lines of his color fields morph into distant horizons. Gentile’s canvases capture memories of places, architectures, or panoramas, which elicit a sense of stasis and spatial distance between them and the viewer. The vibrant hues counter this distance establishing an idyllic tableau to dive into.
Sofia Gotti
PhD University of the Arts and Tate Modern London
Gentile’s works are available in public and private collections, in Italy, at “Gli Angeli” gallery.