Matteo Fato won the 18th edition of the Ermanno Casoli Prize with the project Gentile come un ritratto, a title that is deliberately reminiscent of the alleged self-portrait that painter Gentile da Fabriano (Fabriano 1370 approx., Rome 1427) included in his polyptych the Adoration of the Magi (1423), now in the Uffizi Gallery.

Matteo Fato’s challenge was multifaceted: building upon a masterpiece of the past closely linked to the talent and beauty of the Marche region to collectively conceive a collective work able to talk about the present by moving from Gentile’s self-portrait to a relevant portrait of Elica. This creates an ideal connection that links, with a short time circuit, the Renaissance workshop of the historic painter with a company that, thanks to the passion of its founder Ermanno Casoli, has distinguished itself worldwide in industry and design.

In a particularly difficult time in which even the relational dimension of work is being put to the test, the project presented by the artist has been chosen for the sensitivity and effectiveness with which it has been able to deal with this aspect. Fato has decided to open his authorship to a collective operation, translating the pictorial gesture, namely a distinctive feature of his work that “happens” in the silence and solitude of his studio, in a “joint effort”, recreating an intimate and deep sense of closeness with others. The work, which in its plurality and abstraction is capable of representing all those who have contributed to its realisation, is the result of a temporary painting workshop, lasting a week and set up in the company spaces of the Fabriano and Castelfidardo Elica offices, conducted by Matteo Fato, in which 159 employees were invited to leave their mark on a single canvas. During the workshop, the participants had the opportunity to interact with Fato personally, reflecting together on the nature of portraiture as a form of expression that represents not only an individuality, but also the era that characterises it. Indeed, in order to portray a subject, it is necessary to be able to reach a “familiarity” with the historical, cultural and social context that surrounds it. With this in mind, each participant received from the artist the key to leave their mark, in search of a similarity based on their personal experience and daily life. The portrait, as is customary in the artist’s modus operandi, becomes part of a more articulated installation, composed of other devices linked to his work process. From this collective action, other canvases have been produced, taken from the cloths used to clean the brushes at each change of hand and colour, which in turn are framed and placed inside their respective transport crates.

“The initial title of the workshop, in its becoming a definitive installation, has taken on a necessary plurality: Gentili come un ritratto. This change to the first and perhaps most important word of the title is indispensable to pay homage to the kind eyes and hands that have gifted us their story; a precious story that has become the landscape portrait of our time”. Matteo Fato

Gentili come un ritratto thus becomes part of the Elica Corporate Collection, a special collection of all the works created by artists and employees of the company during the activities promoted by Fondazione Ermanno Casoli.

Download the catalogue