Artists

Giulia Andreani

Press release

Galerie Max Hetzler, London, is pleased to present L’improduttiva, a new body of thirteen paintings and works on paper by Giulia Andreani. This is the artist’s fourth solo exhibition with the gallery, and the second in the London space.

Recently exhibited at the Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia, Italy, the present works encapsulate Andreani’s compelling yet haunting painterly practice. Across her oeuvre, Andreani repurposes personal memorabilia and archival photographs, addressing forgotten histories through a subversive and feminist lens. Working primarily in her signature palette of Payne’s grey – a blue-grey hue rich with echos of the past – her works unearth buried narratives to reconstruct timeless and prescient stories for the present moment.

Emerging from a compendium of collective memories, the exhibited works find their origins in the archives of Reggio Emilia. Faded letters, yellowed documents and, above all, black-and-white photographs comprise the foundation of the artist’s practice. Guided by an unorthodox approach to research, Andreani selects, gathers and filters archival material in a non-linear way, sifting, layering and interweaving freeze-framed moments in time. Driven by the sociopolitical history of Reggio Emilia, the resulting compositions raise poignant questions about the perceived societal roles of women throughout history, contending with underlying power dynamics while dismantling gender stereotypes.

Lending the exhibition its title, Andreani’s painting L’improduttiva (The Unproductive One), 2023, presents a group of students entirely absorbed in their work as seamstresses. All but one, that is, who looks out towards the viewer defiantly, a mischievous smile flitting across her face. The work is based on an archival photograph from the early 1940s which documents the tailoring school of Reggio Emilia, founded at this time by Giulia Maramotti. While women’s acceptance into the workforce during World War II marked a breakthrough moment of emancipation, it simultaneously highlighted the vast gulf of opportunity and liberty between the sexes. Capturing the viewer's attention, the woman’s brazen smirk and gaze serve as a symbol of this inherent irony.