Nero Ombrato

In his work donated to the Hospice, Carboni offers the viewer one of his wonderful shadowed black works: perfect circular shapes – characteristic of the artist’s compositions – intersect with floral elements and other less distinct forms. As always, the main aspect is colour: penetrating, vibrant black that embraces every element in the composition creating perfect harmony, and drawing the viewer’s gaze like flames in a fire. The circle acts as a guide to follow the balance of the composition, almost like a heavenly constellation within our reach... within our view. Well worth seeing was the unusual experimental work set up for MACROwall: Eighties are Back! at the Macro Gallery in Rome (2010), where a Nero ombrato (Shadowed Black, 2004-2008) was placed alongside Carboni’s Prima Prova (First trial), a sculpture he created in 1989, providing a hitherto un-exhibited possibility to compare two works from the artist’s creative history.