Author's aphorism: “Too weak to allow different souls to converse.”
In Blood ties, Gennaro Corbi reflects on the paradox of proximity. Two vertical shapes face each other like human presences, united by a network of thin threads that attempt to cancel the distance without actually managing to overcome it.
The red, intense and absolute, evokes blood as a common origin, belonging and shared destiny. But the artist overturns every easy certainty: what arises from the same principle is not necessarily capable of being understood. Bonds exist, but they may prove too fragile to support the weight of internal differences.
The threads thus become a metaphor for human communication. They are connections that seek to cross a liminal space, an invisible threshold that separates two autonomous identities. The meeting is desired, even necessary, but remains incomplete.
Corbi suggests that true proximity does not derive from kinship or sharing an origin, but from the ability to build an authentic dialogue. The work transforms a family relationship into a universal reflection on the difficulty of truly reaching the other.
Gennaro Corbi was born in 1943 in Naples, where he lives and works. His art is inspired by mystery, memory and the depths of the human soul. Some of his pieces explore the darker side of our emotions, but always provoke deep feelings and reflections. To fully appreciate his work, it is important to embrace its esoteric nature and let it speak to us on a deep level, rather than trying to rationalize or explain it. Gennaro Corbi's art is full of unknown and enigmatic figures ranging from staircases to landscapes and even spirits. His inspiration comes from a variety of sources, including the literature of Kafka, as well as motifs and themes found in the works of other famous artists such as Chagall and Klimt.
Gennaro Corbi is a master at giving life and freedom to humanity's deepest thoughts and demons. Drawing inspiration from figures linked to his past, as well as significant episodes that have marked his life, he creates pieces that explore the complexity of the human experience. Through his art, Corbi delves into the darkest corners of the mind, evoking emotions and themes that resonate with viewers on a profound level. His paintings reflect his inner journey and inspire others to face their own struggles and find meaning in the chaos of life.
THE WHY OF MY PAINTING
“In 1989, a very dear friend of mine (Luigi Castellano/Luca) defined me as a “street vendor in front of a wall”; today, many years later, I realize that I have replaced the wall with a system of mirrors through which I have the illusion of looking inside myself.
In my works there are no human figures; there is only me observing what I have seen, not what I see every day. The things seen leave traces, meanings and thoughts within me that help me understand that part of me that I will never fully know. I use what, absorbed by my conscience, becomes my story, my life of which I am simply the director; the lights are never directed but only returned by the mirror of my memory/consciousness.
The images are blurry, informal because they do not respond to the geometries of the optics; they are summary and not respectful of Cartesian space, which is also seen by me very critically, referred to in bands, backgrounds drawn to create spaces apparently not inhabited except by one's own thought.
Mine is a simple diary of my eighty years kept, often indistinctly in the back of a drawer accessible only by sensations; I am convinced that everyone has a diary hidden in their soul; I only try to give, with my works, a pretext to access what everyone carries inside often unconsciously.
I don't paint for the eyes of others but for their impalpable emotion as spectators of their own existence.
Stories certainly different from mine but with the infinite richness of lives lived that demand respect every day.
In front of my paintings, close your eyes and think of yourself, look inside and you will find the only true richness that is your story; only in this way will my sending my works around will make sense; if this does not happen it means that they have no value for you others and therefore they are only useful to me."