Michele Principato Trosso is an Italian painter on a continuous search for his pictorial dimension. Born in 1974 in Germany, Michele today lives and works in Sicily, specifically in Capizzi, southeast of Palermo and southwest of Messina.
He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Catania in 2003 with a degree in painting, studying with artist and professor Salvo Russo and the neoconceptual artist, Lombard. At the Academy, Michele learned basic techniques—first of all, drawing, specifically the shaded technique of Leonardo da Vinci and balancing the image. For a whole year, he drew only with graphite on sheets of paper, creating compositions and models. In the second year of university, he learned the techniques of painting with enamel, first composing original pieces and then making copies of great artists. The third and fourth years of university were periods of experimentation and personal, individualistic artistic research. The opportunity to observe and analyze numerous works, both from the past and from contemporary artists proved very beneficial. “I immortalized Vedova, De Kooning, Kokoschka, Ensor, Schifano, Rotella, Kiefer, and Cézanne as my spiritual and artistic "masters." Each of them left an indelible mark on me. From abstract expressionism, I appreciate the instinctive virulence and vivid colors of Vedova's yellows, reds, and blacks. From Schifano, I learned the art of harmonious and natural gesture. The power, materiality, and solemnity of Kiefer's work evoke visceral colors: sienna, burnt earth, or Kassel earth.
Over the years, I have searched for my own pictorial dimension, changing genres and pictorial cycles. In the cycle of trunks, I represent archetypes and archaic models; in some ways, the trunks are natural sculptures—sinuous forms rooted in the earth. I always use red as a background, but it is not a single red. I treat it several times, as the alchemists of the past did, and then I create the trees. The genesis of the trunks tells the symbolism of man, woman, encounter, magic amulets, hieratic fetishes, friendship, conflict, love, eroticism, unfulfilled sexuality, and esotericism, understood as the search for one's infinite self.”
– Michele Principato
Michele has exhibited throughout Italy, Germany, England, China, Taiwan, Uruguay, Russia, Spain, France, India, Slovenia, Macedonia, Portugal, Tunisia, and the United States.
We are honored to feature Michele’s work at Barlow Gallery.
To shop for prints of Michele's artwork in various sizes and materials, click HERE.