MARCOROSSI artecontemporanea is pleased to present Infinite Transparencies, a solo exhibition by Ivan De Menis (Treviso, 1973).

Ivan De Menis studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, and although his painting is abstract, it is deeply influenced by the Venetian luminist tradition. The reflections of water, the ever-changing lagoon light, and the visual legacy of Venetian vedutisti—particularly Canaletto—subtly permeate his work, endowing color with a vibrant and liquid quality.

The artist builds complex, layered surfaces where the painting unfolds through successive applications of enamel, oil paints, and epoxy resins, enhancing both depth and brilliance. The title Infinite Transparencies evokes this visual and conceptual interplay between light and matter: works that shimmer, capture the gaze, and return it transformed, in a dimension of suspension and contemplation.

A central role in the exhibition is played by the Compressions—works made by painting on canvas and polystyrene, then subjected to an intense and prolonged mechanical compression using heavy iron plates. The result is a surface where pigment and structure merge into a visual outcome reminiscent of an alchemical process, where the pictorial matter undergoes an irreversible metamorphosis, often with surprising results.

Alongside these pieces are the so-called Tessere—small, regularly shaped panel paintings that appear as fragments of a hypothetical mosaic. Each tessera is a self-contained pictorial microcosm, yet in dialogue with the others, where the apparent front-facing perfection contrasts with visible traces on the sides, revealing color transitions, layers, and the “imperfections” of the artistic process.

Infinite Transparencies is an invitation to observe closely, to grasp the silent dialogue between light, matter, and time, and to be drawn into a form of painting that avoids narrative in favor of the visual and sensory essence of color.