Italian artist Filippo Minelli studied art and even graduated cum laude. But it was his childhood that shaped his sense for the visual: his aunt, who helped raised him, was deaf. Looking back at that experience, Minelli explains how it “trained him to look for the most simple way to express concepts in the presence and absence of speech.”

Minelli has been creating art for public spaces since the late 1990s. Traces of his work can be found all over the world, from European capitals and Southeast Asian cities, to more rural environments like the Italian countryside, the Mongolian steppe, or African deserts.

While Minelli is interested in geopolitics, he says he does not follow the daily news. He says it prevents him deciphering and portraying reality, or considering different directions.

Minelli’s exhibition, Silence Shapes, at Ruttkowski;68, is his first solo show in Germany. It features a series of images showing artificial, colored smoke violently erupting in pristine, natural landscapes. The contrast shows that beauty can be found in clashing visions.

RUTTKOWSKI68

December 7th, 2012 – January 20th, 2013
Bismarckstr. 68
50672 Cologne
Germany