RAFAEL SOTTOLICHIO

Montréal, Qc

rafaelsottolichio.com

@rafaelsottolichio

Painting in a realist style, my subject matter centers around the portrait genre, where I explore the relationship between the individual and his difficult connection to reality. My painted architectural constructions are strongly influenced by the cut-and-paste esthetic of computer software like photoshop. In my paintings, silhouettes and realistically painted characters offer a complex way of looking at public spaces. Inspired by philosophy, I create images in which characters seem to float in undescript or strange surroundings. This expresses a certain strangeness that characterizes a being’s relation to the world. My recent series were inspired by Martin Heidegger’s phenomenological concepts of «strangeness» and «being there», Albert Camus’ concept of «fallenness» and Jürgen Habermas’ concept of «public space». My last show was created as an interpretation of Shakespeare’s play King Lear. In this play, I explore the confrontation between the individual conscience of the characters and a more present, post-modern and cut-up vision of the individual and the self.

BIOGRAPHY

Rafael Sottolichio was born in Santiago, in Chile, and arrived inMontreal in 1976. After university studies in Santiago and in Montreal, he practises painting professionally since 1996. Rafael Sottolichio participated in several exhibitions: in Gallery Lacerte Art Contemporain of Quebec, in Orange Gallery and in culture house Frontenac and Plateau-Mont-Royal, in gallery Eyelevel in Halifax, in the Regional Museum of Rimouski, in the centre Expression of Saint-Hyacinthe, as well as in the National Center of Exhibition of Jonquière. His works are part of numerous public collections: Colart Collection, Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer,Interinvest, Art for Healing Foundation,TD collection, Collection Loto-Québec, SSQ Groupe Financier, Fédération des Caisses Desjardins, Progressive Art Collection, Ohio.

image right:

Babel No. 1,

Mutations

© Rafael Sottolichio
Artwork images may not be used without the expressed consent of the artist.