The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2015 has used colour on the walls of three of the main galleries; the Lazarides Gallery in London has also adopted colour for the walls of its new exhibition “Antimatter Series: A Boundless Vision”, in this case the classical dark green used in gothic churches, renaissance palaces and revivalist interiors, chosen as a historic backcloth to the paintings and busts by the Miaz Brothers who have an interest in seventeenth century Renaissance art which is echoed in their work.
Roberto and Renato Miaz, born 1965 and 1968 in Milan, Italy and now living in Valencia, Spain, are a collaborate duo whose paintings show tantalising images of apparently beautiful and elegant people through a haze or behind a veiled screen. Their work removes all superfluous detail to create something which is timeless and encourages the viewer to look hard and search for the character of the person concealed in the painting. From what can be seen they all appear to be well-dressed dark-haired young ladies with fine white skin, but will this be true when the veil is lifted? Why does the paint run down the canvas in one painting – has there been some tragedy, some unhappiness, some unfinished business? “This is purposeful – the paintings are superbly executed but we are left searching for the character, the memories, the face that is hiding in the paintings.”
The exhibition at Lazarides displays several of these paintings in the Brothers’ characteristic style behind busts of women which continue their philosphy in three dimensional sculptures. There is however a contrast between the two; the paintings are calm and serene, as enigmatic as the Mona Lisa, but the busts are more animated and agitated – these are not the calm veiled marble women of Antonio Corradani (1688 – 1752) or Raphaelli Monti (1818–1881), but these appear to be women trying to escape and express themselves, trapped under suffocating layers of fabric which conceal all their features.
“We are interested in the ‘perception’ and not the ‘representation’ – a direct relationship with the senses and the capacity of the self when faced with the elaborate influx of information that nowadays is becoming more and more important.” (Miaz Brothers)
