The Borghese Gallery in Rome is featuring Belgian artist Hans Op de Beeck reflecting on the work of Correggio (1489-1534). The show forms a part of the Contemporary Assignments project, a series of ten exhibitions highlighting a great artist whose work is prominent in the gallery's historic collection. Hans Op de Beeck has entitled his work, created specifically for this exhibition, ‘In Silent Conversation with Correggio'. There are two groups of pieces in the exhibition, each comprised of three large black and white watercolors. Thematically the works focus on deserted interior and exterior scenes, referring to the intimate and withdrawn nature of the Correggio's oeuvres. Although Op de Beeck takes a multi-disciplinary approach, the spirit of his work is rooted in figurative painting. He employs free associations and photography to isolate, translate and abstract figures, settings, objects and other details from Correggio's paintings, synthetizing them in new compositions. Op de Beeck executed his watercolors in black and white, a choice that provided a formal starting point for his approach and which stemmed from the features of Correggio's images that most engaged his interest. These features were not the overt subjects of the paintings, which were drawn from mythological and biblical themes; nor did he focus on the dynamism of the master's forms or the richness of colors. Rather, Op de Beeck was attracted to an atmosphere of silent, sweet and sensual melancholy that pervades the Renaissance Master's work, a characteristic that he hopes to bring into sharper focus through his installation.

May 29 to October 4 in Rome, Uccelliera di Villa Borghese.
Info: www.galleriaborghese.it