Press release

MONTI8 is thrilled to announce Stephen Buscemi – Blue Star, opening on April 27. The exhibition marks the debut solo show of the Brooklyn artist who, on this occasion, will present a new series of works made in 2024 and ranging from small to a very large scale.

Stephen Buscemi’s acrylic paintings are mostly focused on the male bodies and faces, that often the artist depicts showing only details that hide the identity of the character/characters on the canvas. We can see hands playing piano or only a pair of shoes – one of the subjects that interests Buscemi a lot – without knowing who they belong to or where they are.

This attention to details enhances a strong sense of intimacy and mistery underlined by rarified shapes and dark tones, where a soft light plays a decisive role in the composition of each of his paintings: it helps the figures emerging from the background, deciding what to reveal and what to hide.

In the body of works made for this exhibition – five paintings and a few additional works – male figures is still the subject that interests the artist the most. Nevertheless, Buscemi is also interested in interiors scenes and objects, like in the work I Don’t Know What to Do with the Fire, which portrays twelve candles placed in circle. The blue candle in the foreground immediately stands out, and gives the artist the chance to investigate light and reflection.

In the painting Learning to Fly the canvas is filled with a standing male figure in suites seen from behind. This scene, solemn as well as romantic, describes a man going out in a dark and desert night, where the moon is framed by the curtains that mark the border between the outside and a private space that the man is about to leave.

The show will open on April 27 and will run untill May 31.