In a volcanic eruption, magma is the molten substance that lies deep within the earth, generating the force that drives its ascent. It is the core energy of the eruption—its composition and behavior shaping its nature and intensity.

Magma evokes this visceral, vital, and ever-evolving motion: a dynamic energy that sustains the continual regeneration of artistic practice. Like volcanic layers, it establishes a dialogue between what preexists and what is renewed, opening new points of departure and creative impulse.

At the heart of Rutigliano’s new pictorial phase lies this inner magmatic dimension: the artist moves beyond schematic compositions and precise detailing, in favour of an attitude of openness towards the spontaneous and the unconscious.

The brushstroke becomes plastic, bold and explosive, fueled by a powerful energetic drive, while the colour range brightens with luminous tones, reflecting a profound shift in the artist’s sensibility. In his paintings, Rutigliano creates spaces that merge the real and the unreal, otherworldly territories inhabited by hybrid, undefined figures that appear as traces of a layered journey, suspended between past and present. They embody the flux of becoming and the infinite possibilities of transformation, coming together in dynamic, rhythmic compositions.

The painting echoes the artist’s Salentine roots and tarantism: an archaic ritual in which the subject affected by a psychic crisis, traditionally attributed to a spider bite, is placed in the centre of a circle and subjected to a collective healing ritual through music, which drives him or her into a frenetic exorcism dance.

The cathartic power of this ritual and the desire to share underpin Rutigliano’s practice, for which the canvas becomes the physical manifestation and the connecting element between the observation of the self and the external world, the community. 

SIMONE RUTIGLIANO

Born in Lecce in 2002, he lives and works in Venice, where he attends the Painting program at the Academy of Fine Arts.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 – GREMBO, MA Project, Perugia
2024 – JABAL, A+B Gallery, Brescia

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 – Aldilà Sarà, Spazio Berlendis, Venice
New Art Frontiers, Altro Mondo Creative Space, Makati City
We Art Open, SPUMA – Space for the Arts, Venice
2024 – MOOD, Plain Gallery, Milan
Extra Ordinario V, VEGA Science and Technology Park, Venice
Artefici del nostro tempo, 5th Edition, Forte Marghera, Mestre
2023 – Hôtel-Dieu, A plus A Gallery, Venice
ANTARES – Extra Ordinario Painting Laboratory, Magazzini del Sale 3, Venice
Extra Ordinario IV, VEGA Science and Technology Park, Venice
Premio Combat Prize, 14th Edition, Giovanni Fattori Civic Museum, Livorno
Liberi tutti, Marignana Arte Project Room, Venice
Premio Nocivelli, 15th Edition, Chiesa della Disciplina, Verolanuova