The idea behind Ivan Cangelosi’s art is that of combining literature with figurative art through the copying by hand of novels and, generally speaking, literary texts, within the space of a painting.

The idea that the novel could be not only read, but also looked at and admired, in a single act, just as we do by looking at a painting, it was therefore the original intuition which led to the creation of these works.

From the stylistic and technical point of view, Ivan Cangelosi uses the handwriting and, in particular, the dense texture of color that the writing produces, to create abstract and figurative art. In this sense, pen and ink are instrument and material for “stitching” the weft of the works (kind of modern tapestries), as well as, for example, are the needle and thread for embroidery works.

Looking at an Ivan Cangelosi’s work could be considered an intellectual as well as a visual experience. The visual impact towards the work is reinforced by the fact that the picture that one is looking at, also is at the same time the text of a famous novel rewritten by hand. Ivan Cangelosi merges into a single perception the intellectual experience that one has when reading a book, with the visual and emotional experience that one can have by admiring a painting. 

After hundreds of years, the spirit of the ancient amanuensis art revives in the originality and uniqueness of absolutely contemporary artworks.

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