LA GITANA ANARCHICA | GIULIA ANDREANI

Giulia Andreani (Venice, 1985) focuses her attention on the female figure to explore feminist themes, such as the position of women in society and motherhood. Andreani’s privileged subjects are women who have fought battles for independence aimed at emancipating the female figure – such as Franca Viola, for example – or past artists, famous or not – Georgia O’Keeffe, Lucienne Heuvelmans, Valentine Prax, to name a few –, who paved the way for future generations in the field of art and, through their stories, served as a source of inspiration.

La Gitana Anarchica is a painting depicting the face of a woman in the foreground wearing two large hoop earrings and two pearl necklaces. To create this painting, the artist mainly used Payne’s gray, which, with its bluish hue, gives the image a retro look typical of cyanotypes. But the real peculiarity of this artwork is given by the graphic sign that the artist has drawn on the upper part of the face, a sort of triangular mask in a cream yellow color positioned at ear height, covering the face from the cheekbones to the forehead. This kind of mask is cut out in the center to leave the eyes visible. As is characteristic in Andreani’s works, the expressiveness of the painted subjects is used to convey attention. The focal point of this artwork, in fact, focuses on the gypsy’s eyes: melancholic yet firm, her gaze is engaging and captures the viewers, as if she wanted to involve them in her own battle.

The addition of the graphic sign – an interesting stylistic exercise that analogically applies the technique of photomontage to painting – not only creates a harmonious balance in the structural composition of the image, but also refers to the collective imagery of the masked superhero. From an iconographic point of view, it is as if Andreani wanted to transform La Gitana Anarchica into a superheroine fighting against the patriarchy.

The artwork is currently showed at the Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia until March 10, 2024, as part of the solo exhibition L’improduttiva.

Giulia Andreani
La Gitana Anarchica, 2023
Acrylic on canvas, 35 x 27 cm
© Giulia Andreani; Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Max Hetzler Berlin Paris London; Ph. Charles Duprat

08/11/2023