Vittorio Marella’s paintings depict quiet snapshots of the human figure in ambiguous coastal settings. The artist presents us with seemingly ordinary happenings, but allows the relationship between the protagonist and their environment to remain unresolved. There is little in Marella’s pictorial world to suggest a specific time, place or narrative — instead, we are presented with visions that seem suspended, recognisable but not fully understood.

The painting Above embodies Marella’s painterly practice, depicting a scene pervaded by uncertainty and expectation. A solitary figure seeks a calming space distanced from the present world, alluding to the desire to escape the incessant noise and commotion of today. The scene is inspired by the Murazzi, the seawalls that stretch as a spit of land south of the artist’s home on the island of Lido, protecting the Venetian Lagoon. Marella observes how bathers climb these rocks to find a quiet space away from others, away from society, “to find silence in a world that was never this loud.”

The heavily textured surface of the painting is central to its significance, with the artist using sand directly from the beach to create these tactile effects.

He explains: “These canvases should evoke through texture the same roughness of the boulders, as the works aim to feel as if they were made of sand and stone, as if they were almost found on the shore rather than painted. This allows me to bring Nature into the conversation as it is the guiding principle behind every piece.”