To stand bare

The Poetics of Abandonment

To surrender to change, or to change to avoid it? This is the dilemma pondered by the figures in To stand bare, as they gaze upon boundless maritime horizons or dense, ever-unchanging banks of clouds. For those living outside the paintings, this might seem an almost trivial choice, another existential question destined to vanish into a drawer before long. Yet for those static, heated bodies, taking a stand offers the chance to reshape and transform the entire world that hosts them. In this solo exhibition we have the chance to engage with the same doubt.  

The scenes Marella depicts use natural elements such as sand and the sea to speak of the passage of time, subtly evoking the exertion of crossing a desert or battling a ceaseless tide. The protagonists of these liminal, almost metaphysical environments, created through the stylization and repetition of natural elements such as dunes or waves, are robust, three-dimensional human figures, used as anchors within scenes that might otherwise risk being unconsciously sublimated. Treated almost as a counterbalance to the viewer, these people lie relaxed in prone or supine positions, or, depending on the narrative requirements of the painting, are frozen in essential movements. None of the figures interacts openly with the others; every action or inaction on their part is subordinate to the movement of the sun, the only agent with which they have a direct relationship. 

Although the sun never appears in its original form, it is omnipresent. The subjects’ posture and movements, the impression of sweltering heat - conveyed through stark contrasts between light and shadow - and the chiaroscuro effects (notably intensified to enhance the scene’s intensity and three-dimensionality) all rely on the star. In the paintings, the sun exists by virtue of its rays and, through them, becomes personified. And if light is inevitable, so is its consequence: a scorching world that becomes a metaphor for an unprecedented climate crisis. The fourth wall is thus deliberately blurred by the artist to introduce a real and all-too-topical theme, exaggerated on the canvas without, however, imbuing it with an explicit intent to denounce. 

In this sense, the landscapes depicted read more as an observation than a warning. The suggestion of a nature that is becoming increasingly ferocious is counterbalanced by orderly compositions and rounded, gentle lines, rendering the message definitive yet by no means violent. The figures moving within the landscapes, however, are compelled to react; this broadens the analysis, prompting reflection on artificial elements such as clothing, buildings, and other man-made products. 

Everything created by humankind is, in fact, used by Marella as a symbol. Clothes, in particular, are seen by the artist as a second skin. The act of undressing takes on deeper connotations, becoming the emblem of an inner transformation. Whilst nudity implies feelings such as vulnerability and embarrassment, it can also be synonymous with openness and allude to an attempt at reconciliation with a hypothetical Garden of Eden. Clothes conceal not only the body but also the wearer’s unease, symbolizing both humanity’s attachment to negative traditions and a profound sense of detachment from the environment. 

The theme of fabric is echoed in the very composition of the canvas, within which materials such as cloth, sand, and shells often coexist. The artist prefers to create his own supports from scratch to establish a connection with the work even before the brush touches it, enabling him to manage the subsequent layering of both organic and pictorial elements from the very beginning. These layers reflect a desire to imitate nature by simulating natural sedimentation on the surface; each layer is arranged, left to dry, and then planed, shaping the pictorial surface to mirror the realism of a geological process. 

The sculptural element serves the artist in two ways: on the one hand, it allows him to incorporate native materials from the places he depicts - largely gathered from the beaches of the Venice Lido - into the painting, and, on the other, it acts as a barrier to a perfect representation of individuals and environments. The grainy texture that is created automatically undermines a naturalistic or hyperrealistic style, helping the artist counter a spontaneous tendency toward imitation that is intrinsically linked to his role as an observer. 

—Beatrice Timillero

Vittorio Marella (b. 1997, Venice) is a painter who lives and works between Venice and London. Though always drawn to art, Marella initially pursued studies in Astrophysics at the University of Padua. Marella has collaborated with numerous galleries in Italy and abroad, participated in leading art fairs, and taken part in several group exhibitions. His work has been exhibited in prestigious institutions such as the Mart Museum in Rovereto (2025), Palazzo Merulana in Rome (2024), Museo degli Eremitani in Padua (2021), and The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (2019). In 2024, Marella was one of four artists presented for the Venice Pavilion during the 2024 Venice Biennale.