Bosco Sodi at Terrace Gallery, Kanaal
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Bosco Sodi - Folegandros
Until March 16, 2024
The work of Bosco Sodi is chameleon-like, it shifts, transforms, and adapts to its environment. The places where he creates his art dictate the outcome. A painting made in his Brooklyn studio is fundamentally different from this series made on the Greek island of Folegandros, even though similar techniques and materials are employed. Bosco Sodi soaks up his environment, unleashes it on the canvas, and gives it back to nature to dry, crack, and settle into a final form. The climate, temperature, and humidity all are variables at play. Where many artists try to control every step of the process, Bosco Sodi is the master of letting go: nature as an uncontrollable partner in his creativity, each time resulting in a unique, impossible-to-repeat outcome.
When witnessing Sodi at work, a paradox emerges. A paradox between the brute force of the creation process, where he uses his bare hands in direct contact with the materials, and the gentle relationship he nurtures with his surroundings. This, however, exemplifies his unifying power to create, envision, and imagine a different world. What stands out, is the way he combines organic materials into man-made compositions, all the while respecting the order of life and matter. The primal power of humanity as a catalyst for creation rather than destruction.
In this day and age, artists may be considered as modern shamans. They visually translate that which can’t be heard or seen. The strength of a work always lies in what we feel but can’t define. With Bosco Sodi’s work, it is no different. He captured the unique soul of an extraordinary island in a series of arcane paintings, where nature is always near.
- Boris Vervoordt
