Art Criticsm Catalog Sheet Title: Mani di donna Code: AC0013H – Switzerland, 2009 Artist: Cardamone Alessandro Technique: Acrylic on canvas Style: Neo-Cubism / Contemporary Abstract Figuration ________________________________________ Formal Analysis Mani di donna represents a significant stage in Cardamone’s production, as it revisits and expands an initial concept already present in a 1999 work. In the 2009 version, the artist demonstrates greater compositional confidence and clear stylistic maturity: the female figure is no longer merely a subject, but a plastic node around which the entire pictorial surface is articulated. The work is constructed through an orderly yet vibrant geometric decomposition. The hands central and amplified compared to the 1999 version become the visual focus: enlarged, almost monumental, modeled with crisp color blocks and overlapping planes. Anatomical tension is expressed through curved lines that contrast with the angular structure defining the face and posture. The color is, as always, saturated and solid, ranging from the warm tones of flesh to the deep contrasts of blue and black, emphasizing a sense of depth. The composition remains firmly balanced: diagonals guide the viewer’s gaze toward the gesture of the hands, while the partially fragmented body serves as the architectural framework of the image. Despite the apparent rigidity of the forms, there is an internal movement that animates the scene, like a silent pulsation. ________________________________________ Symbolism and Interpretation The theme of the hands recurring in Cardamone’s work takes on a complex symbolic value here. The hands are exaggerated, almost autonomous from the body, as if they contained their own identity or intention. They can be read as: • instruments of protection, directed toward the chest or face; • gestures of introspection, conveying care, silence, and reflection; • archetypal, almost totemic signs, recalling ancient and ritual iconography. The female figure appears absorbed, suspended in an abstract space without real-world coordinates. The pronounced facial features, rendered through synthetic geometric planes, suggest a universal identity rather than an individual portrait. The woman seems in dialogue with her own gesture and body, as if her posture conveys an inward message. The background, reduced to symbolic color fields, amplifies the painting’s psychological dimension: it is not an environment, but a field of emotional presence. ________________________________________ References and Influences The work fully integrates into Cardamone’s neo-cubist trajectory, with evident references to: • Picasso and synthetic Cubism, for controlled decomposition and frontal figure presentation; • Léger, for the use of solid volumes and clear, constructive contours; • primitive and totemic art, perceptible in the symbolic character of the hands and simplified faces; • contemporary European neo-figuration, where the representation of the body serves as a pretext to explore inner states. Compared to the late 1990s work, there is a greater mastery of formal synthesis: the relationship between figure and space is more controlled, and the emotional tension better orchestrated. ________________________________________ Technical and Stylistic Aspects • Line: strong, fluid, defining; builds volumes and identity without hesitation. • Color: solid, well-defined, used as a pictorial architecture rather than tonal shading. • Composition: centered, with visual weight concentrated on the hands; balance achieved through opposing planes. • Gesture: the contained gesture of the hands is the emotional focal point of the work. ________________________________________ Critical Evaluation Mani di donna clearly documents the evolution of the artist between 1999 and 2009: what began as a graphic and symbolic intuition transforms here into a stronger, more mature, and more personal aesthetic statement. Strengths include: • the expressive centrality of the hands, transformed into an identity symbol; • the balance between geometric abstraction and emotional intensity; • the internal coherence of the composition, both chromatic and volumetric; • the psychological reading, discreet yet profound. The only potential limitation typical of some of Cardamone’s works from this period is a certain spatial “constraint,” which however contributes to the meditative and intimate character of the painting. ________________________________________ Conclusion Mani di donna (AC0013H, 2009) represents an important milestone in Cardamone’s poetics: a work that revisits an initial theme and develops it with greater maturity, presenting a symbolic, introspective, and intense female image. It is a work that unites gesture and interiority, form and psyche, body and pictorial architecture, confirming the artist’s ability to transform abstract figuration into an emotional and recognizable visual language.