DI STEFANO
From the top of Mount Conero, a promontory overlooking a beautiful stretch of Adriatic coastline, Enio Di Stefano listens to the whispers of nature and contemplates the frailty of human existence. An avid reader of Greek philosophy, he explores metaphysical questions with a surrealist aesthetic combined with mathematical precision. In his still lifes, disorderly heaps of colorful pebbles and rocks lie on the reassuring solidity of a geometric grid; while the cracks of a cliff wall form an imaginary web of lines. In his oeuvre Di Stefano investigates the often precarious and contradictory relationship between man and nature. He alternates pictorial odes to the beauty of the universe and desolate arid landscapes symbolizing the profound alienation of contemporary society. In an age dictated by prevarication and environmental abuse, man forgets his true roots, finding himself alone in an inhospitable land. Di Stefano’s paintings slow down our frantic pace, inducing self-reflection and opening the door onto a utopian world, where everything is possible.
Di Stefano has been painting in oil and acrylic from a very young age. Originally from L’Aquila, Italy, he now lives and works in the Conero National Park, near Ancona. Over the course of his extensive career Di Stefano has exhibited his paintings in Europe and the United States, including Rome, Venice, London, Paris, and Los Angeles. His work is featured in Atlante dell’Arte Contemporanea De Agostini 2021, the most authoritative contemporary art source in Italy.
DI STEFANO ON
Il Cumulo (The Cumulus)
Acrylic on wood
39.5” x 39.5”
Sassi in gabbia 1 (Caged Stones 1)
Acrylic on canvas
39.5” x 39.5”
Sassi in Gabbia 3 (Staged Stones 3)
Acrylic on canvas
34” x 12.5”
My art stems from the contemplation of natural beauty and a profound reflection on myself. I draw my inspiration from Western philosophy, history, and science and offer my unique interpretation of metaphysical themes. Immersed in the wilderness of Mount Conero Regional Park, where human presence is sparse, my subjects are jumbles or primary-colored stones and pebbles, rocky walls traversed by a cobweb of cracks, and surrealist landscapes inhabited by pensive solitary figures. I explore the relationship between nature and man, our primal unity with the universe, but also the alienation and environmental abuse in contemporary society. My paintings are an invitation to pause and awaken our ability to dream through the eyes of the child we once were.
ORIGINAL DI STEFANO
