Exhibition opening on
Saturday, 17 October 2026, 3 pm to 5 pm

SPACES BETWEEN THE LAYERS

Carlo Domeniconi is first and foremost a painter. His artistic practice is rooted in layered painting, a classical technique in which a picture is not created in a single session, but develops through several successive layers of paint, each carefully allowed to dry. Each new layer alters, overlays or refines the motif beneath it. In this way, a multi-layered pictorial space emerges in which the individual stages of the process remain present as traces within the finished work.

It is particularly important to the artist that the act of painting itself becomes visible and tangible. Brushwork, the interplay of light and shadow, the creation of a sense of depth, and the subtle gradations and nuances of colour are essential components of his visual language. The painting does not conceal its creative process; rather, it transforms that process into a means of expression in its own right.

The formal language of his paintings is equally diverse. While some works are defined by vertical and horizontal lines, creating a distinctly architectural or constructive effect, others largely dispense with straight lines. Here, rounded, serpentine and curving lines set the pictorial space in motion. This gives rise to a fascinating interplay between order and dynamism, construction and dissolution, limitation and openness.

Carlo Domeniconi is not a conceptual artist. His paintings are expressive and arise from the sensory experience of painting itself. They reflect an inner state or convey a particular atmosphere. In other cases, they represent an artistic interpretation of a theme that preoccupies the painter and points beyond concrete representation. This can be seen, for example, in numerous small-format black-and-white works in which urban landscapes can be glimpsed. Other works focus on heads. These are not rendered naturalistically, but are constructed from geometric forms, volumes and areas of light and dark. The dynamic interplay of light and shadow lends them a sense of three-dimensionality while, at the same time, giving them an air of mystery.

Some works are also informed by social and political reflection. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, borders seemed to open up. New perspectives, new connections and unexpected possibilities emerged. For a moment, the world seemed to have become more permeable. But what remains of that promise? Today, it seems as though walls are once again being erected – not only as physical barriers, but also in people’s minds. Boundaries are being redrawn, spaces sealed off, perspectives hardened and possibilities restricted.

Against this backdrop, Carlo Domeniconi’s paintings can be read as a kind of pictorial manifesto against walls and barricades. They are directed against everything that divides, isolates and obstructs the free view. The increasing enclosure of public space, the overbuilding of landscapes and cities, and the resulting restriction of openness and freedom of movement can also be considered in this context. Domeniconi’s painting counters this narrowing with a conception of space that opens up, allows for vistas, and in which boundaries are never definitively fixed.

His layers, overlays, lines and nuances of colour do not create static boundaries; rather, they give rise to interstices. It is precisely here that a particular quality of his art resides: it reveals what lies beneath, behind and beyond the surface. It keeps the gaze open to what might yet come.

Kathrin Frauenfelder
Dr. phil., art historian
Zurich, August 2026

Guided tour of the exhibition with Carlo Domeniconi
Saturday, 24 October 2026, 2.00 pm

Closing event
Saturday, 7 November, 2.00–4.00 pm