Works

On encountering the work of Frederico Pietrella one is initially bewildered, and automatically asks, how are they made, the precisely detailed portraits, landscapes, urban spaces? The question of his choice of motifs is superfluous. What we are confronted with is everyday life. The view of the clouded sky through the window, the artist's living room, Berlin's Tiergarten in winter, and the portraits, frequently of his wife and daughter. Pietrella's paintings have a strong photorealistic character, but he is quite distinct from all other artists of this current. He completely dispenses with brushes or spatulas in his work. Federico Pietrella paints with a rubber stamp, a date stamp. This assumes an extraordinary mastery of the pictorial space. Before applying the stamp every part of it must be considered, down to the smallest detail. During his daily work it is always set to the current date, and from the work titles one can see the first and the last day he worked on the respective picture. "Simple Present" serves as a reference to his work with the date stamp. The progress of time is documented by the growth of the pictures.