Glowing Paintings by Francesco Pirazzi Meditate on the Enigmas of Absence — Graphics Design

“For me, paintings represent an attempt (sometimes more successful, sometimes less so) to grasp a ‘something’ that for some reason deeply moves me, agitates me,” says Turin-based artist Francesco Pirazzi. In atmospheric, dreamlike paintings, deceptively simple architecture, trees, walkways, and other features of the landscape glow amid uncanny lighting.

“What drives my research is the feeling that something in reality is slightly off, that before my eyes lies an indecipherable enigma,” Pirazzi says, adding that he enjoys the way painting can encompass both reality and the “unknowable world,” and the ways they irresistibly converge. Deep shadows, minimalist archways, luminescent clouds, and exaggerated perspective combine in bold chromatic tableaux. “The subjects are recurring: trees, street lamps, houses, windows, hedges, and a few others that I feel I use as actors on a stage, each aware of their role,” Pirazzi says.

“Momenti” (2024), oil on linen, 70 x 80 centimeters

Light plays a unique role, establishing the mood and drawing our attention to “the hierarchies between elements and the relationships that intertwine them, the things we must pay attention immediately to and those that need to emerge very slowly.” Illumination also reveals absence, which Pirazzi centers as much as the structures, plants, fences, and other objects. He’s interested in the unseen on the same level as what is visible, drawing us to these obscure and mysterious details.

Starting Octobe 28, the artist’s work will be on view at Luce Gallery in Turin. See more on Pirazzi’s Instagram.

a painting of an evening scene with a pond, leafless tree, and shrub — “Quasi ora” (2025), oil on linen, 60 x 85 centimeters

a painting of a dim light at sunrise or sunset against some trees — “Dal fuori” (2024), oil on linen, 80 x 110 centimeters

an all-red painting of conical shapes and doors — “Nessuno” (2025), oil on linen, 75 x 100 centimeters

a painting of two mirrored arcades at night with a leafless tree in the center — “Ode” (2025), oil on linen, 90 x 120 centimeters

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