“NON PLUS ULTRA” an extraordinary installation by Gonzalo Borondo in Rome

Spanish artist Gonzalo Borondo, known for his haunting public art installations where the sacred and human nature are protagonists, unveiled recently “Non Plus Ultra”, an impressive installation in Rome, created in collaboration with 56Fili.

On view until last week at the Roman art venue Ex Dogana and curated by Chiara Pietropaoli, “Non Plus Ultra” is an unprecedented walk-through silkscreen installation, consisting of fifty-six sheets of glass, measuring two meters and fifty centimeters for eighty centimeters, printed on both sides. Two graphic-pictorial images cohabit the space: on one side a column, on the other a man looking backwards with his arms outstretched, which refers to the crucifixion iconography.

The use of glass in Borondo’s work
From the beginning of his artistic activity Borondo finds in glass an interesting material to explore, a source of original creative possibilities. Over time, glass has become the protagonist of most of his works, created according to a technique originated by the artist. At the base of the process, which takes shape between painting and engraving, the subtraction of the material, the paint applied on the transparent support with brushes and rollers and then scratched away with pointed instruments. It is the absence to represent the elements of reality that abstract from their concrete condition and manifest themselves ethereal, they tell an intimate (and universal) condition that oscillates between certainty and uncertainty, visible and invisible. The poetic of glass, transparent and fragile, stimulates reflections and inspires the subjects that inhabit it, sometimes female figures, nudes, eternal paths, an imposing horse that moves and mutates its nature.

In the last years Borondo has been confronted with matter in a multidisciplinary approach, articulating innovative formal solutions that have combined skills of different areas and have seen the “scratching glass” technique evolve in relation to the artist’s intentions: animating the painting and experimenting screen printing. In his studies he was joined by Arturo Amitrano, founder of 56Fili, whose technical skills, applied in an avant-garde sense, guided Borondo onto new paths.

The concept
“Non Plus Ultra” reflects on the concept of limit, on the sacred need of man to cross the threshold of the known and of logic, to overcome oneself. The spatial limits imposed by the artwork are openings (arches). The limit attracts and rejects, it projects the viewer to infinity, between perspectives and reflections, transparent symbols that merge and get lost, that are confused in the multitude, and multiplied through the serigraphy, raise the questions.

The entire process of creating “Non Plus Ultra” was transformed into a collective and public experience that took place in the courtyard of the Museo Ospitale, where the artist and the technician shared the process from screen printing to on-site installation.
The artwork was presented as a preview in the MACRO ASILO project on the first half of November and later transfered to Ex Dogana, a place dear to Borondo.

Gonzalo Borondo was born in Spain in 1989. Driven by the will of face himself with a collective dimension, exploring the complex relationship between Art and “Public”, he started painting in the public space in 2007. His works stem from the dialogue with the context that he is facing, from the encounter with memories of places and people: context creates the work, which changes (with) the space. Experimentation is the basis of Borondo’s artistic research, focused on extending the resources of painting to disciplines, supports (glass, straw, ceramic, wall surfaces, wood…) and multiples aesthetic practices. The heart of his poetry is searching for what is sacred and the subtle nature of human psyche. Borondo realized paintings and installations of public art all over the world, getting the award Arte Laguna within the section “Land Art and Urban Art” in 2018 thanks to the work “Cenere” (Selci IT, 2017). He started displaying personal shows in Rome, Madrid, Paris, London and Marseilles, expositive projects of experience-based installations in 2012. His studies are now focused on the intention of livening up painting through innovative analogical processes, where the interaction of sound, light and video, synthesized on the glass, is a scene of dynamic paintings that are between visible and invisible.
www.gonzaloborondo.com

56Fili is a silkscreen project, founded in 2008 by twenty-six year old Arturo Amitrano.
Arturo started in his work as self-taught when he was eighteen. He began his activity with the lab at the CSOA Global Village, where he started cooperating with other young artists; later on he put his art in practice in the laboratory inherited from his father, a luthier, where in time he refined his printing techniques.
Arturo’s goal was from the outset to create a place where silkscreen printing is conceived not only as a production tool but as an experimental research space to investigate and develop the possibilities offered by silkscreens.
Over the years 56Fili has become the benchmark of galleries, cultural associations and festivals related to the Italian and international art underground scene. In addition to the works commissioned by companies from the industry, 56Fili carries out in parallel an independent project where it works directly with artists, providing them with Arturo’s technical expertise and sharing his experimental vision of silkscreen printing.
www.56fili.com