Existing in The World

Gino feels painting captures the human experience in layers of paint, where light, time, and colour, vibrate against the surface, communicating universal truth which speaks to both human history and the human condition. He asks should he bother to use paintings vortex of fragmentary imagery to speak of reality in a world where painting has become a purely decorative art form, many regard it so. Gino thinks much contemporary art is Mannerist, heavily weighed down with its own belief system, relevance and self importance, saturating the art world with its anonymous mediocrity and academic strictures".  To be out of step is fundamental to a singular voice and painting profoundly offers a flexible reality and meaning which expresses universal  patterns rather than those full of enigmas parochially framed through a bourgeois perspective. Painting highlights more about being human in a developing world increasingly orientated by rational condition. It should truly be regarded as an important form of philosophical and conceptual expression when guided by the "intention of the mind" 

Before the first cave paintings the human imperative to communicate through story telling existed. This hasn't changed and Gino asks what will happen as human development is augmented in a increasingly rational world? Will the action to freely express using a visually imaginative process become aesthetically simplified - perhaps redundant - repurposed to suit a decorative post AI world, which by its very nature can only be totalitarian. Goya and Rodin would say look for "truth" and Gino does this.

Identity

Who we are and what we stand for have become existential dillemnas for the human condition. Science has created choice and highlighted the unbalanced

chemical makeup of humans in contrast to the historical view of gender identity. Genetic technologies enabling sex selection of the human embryo demonstrates how closely associated genders are. Usually the physical characteristics are spread throughout the human genome which is made up of 46 chromosomes that each contain hundreds or thousands of genes. UGenerally the male genes are turned off in the female and the female gene is turned off in the male. But we know from human experience that this is partially true because many people struggle for years to come to terms with their gender identity.  This story of human evolution  creates much hostility for very obvious reasons, when a baby is first born everyone wants to know is it a boy or girl? and at that stage the answer is very straight forward, acceptance is very easy with no social fallout. Breaking the social expectation usually creates hostility and rejection but going forward perhaps gender identity will be less fraught. After all we all live on the same planet            

Asleep

When sleeping we are condensing human experience and letting the body recharge. Without sleep the brain becomes disorientated and its ability to process information is compromised and our grasp of reality is altered. Sleep is essential for the human psyche a healthy body and to stay alert. It organises consciousness, enabling humans to understand their place in society.

Sleep is unique to the individual and orientates the internal and external universe of that individual.  It is part of the human condition. 

Mum

We originate from a union which can be filled with all sorts of emotions. But the strength to endure, support, protect and raise a child comes from within and without. Experience and environmental conditions "who we are" and "who we become" is only part of the story. A story which goes as far back as our consciousness has been framed.

Smoke

Smoking is a long standing tradition which many people do even though their are serious risks to health. The health concerns are real and those who use tobacco are aware of them. it is a ritual which becomes a part of an individuals life and it reflects individual traits of the smoker.

Lived Experience 97 ++ Heads

Gino paints these heads to create a living memory of the individual lived experience. Gino sees this ongoing multiple project as a document of the human face its infinite variety encapsulating many aspects of the human condition and the lived experience. It is also an historical document representing a section of people Gino invited to be painted. These are not commissions but a collaborative diary. The multiple work has been shown in different exhibitions and as Gino paints another head to add to the work the showing of the multiple is always formatted differently being redefined by the adding of another life. Occasionally a head does become a painting existing in it's own space.

Below: detail of the multiple