Signs in the void, 2026

Ivana Urso  

Ivana Urso was born on December 17, 1978 in San Cataldo, a town in the province of Caltanissetta, in Sicily. Since she was young she has shown a great interest in the applied arts, attending the Regional Institute of Art of San Cataldo and subsequently the Academy of Fine Arts in Catania, where she graduated with honors in the course of Pictorial decoration.

After moving to Rome, she began to devote herself to personal research in the technique of thermoformed glass fusing, also exploring painting with continuous experimentation. In 2017, Ivana Urso joined Massimo Picchiami's "Pentastrattismo" movement, a research and experimentation group of Italian artists of contemporary art, where she was able to express her talent and her creativity in abstract form, in a unique and personal way.

Ivana Urso's works are mainly paintings that focus on the materiality of painting, creating a compact and real surface. She uses a mixed technique of acrylic on canvas with relief decorations, resins, watercolors, canvas gauze, handmade papers, gold leaf, metal paste, photographic or cardboard clippings, lava powder, silver leaf.

Her art is characterized by the ability to make the work full-bodied and material, interrupting its continuity, thus expressing her inexhaustible experimental will. With continuous research and discovery of materials, even the less common ones, Ivana Urso obtains surprising results that celebrate the impermanence of being, of being there, but which become the definitive imprint that the artist's creation returns with grace.

Ivana Urso's handmade paper is a rich, symbolic decoration, almost a decorative fabric that nevertheless recalls profound moods and suggestions. The dimension of memory is a constant theme in her works, evident from the constant presence of the book or the word. Through these elements, Ivana Urso attempts to push the viewer's imagination and gaze beyond the two-dimensionality of the canvas, unhinging a system of two-dimensionality and pragmatic observation.

In recent times, Ivana Urso has broadened the field of artistic research by focusing on the planets and the moon, sources of inspiration for many of her recent works. In particular, she has created various works using the round shape, which represents for her the symbol of the universe and of perfection.

In these works, Ivana Urso once again uses mixed techniques with acrylic on canvas and relief decorations, but has added the use of new materials such as marble powders and colored sands, which allow her to create three-dimensional effects and to simulate the surface of a planet or the moon.

Ivana Urso's goal is to capture the essence and beauty of the universe, exploring the cosmic dimension through her art. Furthermore, the circular shape of her works represents for the artist a metaphor of infinity and continuity, inviting the viewer to reflect on the vastness of the universe and on one's own existence within it.

Ivana Urso's works have been presented in various contemporary art galleries, including the Enna Contemporary Art Gallery Sicily and the Singulart Contemporary Art Gallery Paris. You have received many positive reviews from art historians and critics, including Piero Montana, Giulia Tansini, Michele Gavoni, Massimo Picchiami, Giorgio Grasso, Mattea Micello and Silvia Giovanardi.

Ivana Urso's works have been sold in public auction.