Howard Griffin Gallery London

Parabola Di G is a landmark show for Giacomo Bufarini a.k.a. RUN. It represents a turning point in his artistic practice as he moves from painting walls to becoming a studio artist. For the first time, RUN is exhibiting under his real name, Giacomo Bufarini. In this unique exhibition, he leads us through a semi-autobiographical story told through a unique series of highly detailed  pen and ink drawings that collectively make up a book. On this voyage of self-discovery, Bufarini is both the creator and protagonist, trapped within his own story. Bufarini plays with levels of reality and metaphor, creating a dreamscape that appears at once fantastical and very real.

Parabola di G follows the journey of a semi-fictional character, G, as he falls through levels of reality into a dreamscape. The exhibition presents a unique opportunity to see the original drawings of the book presented within an immersive gallery wide installation. Visitors to the exhibition fall into a story within a story, stepping into the unfolding pages of the story as they walk around the space. 

A 'Parabola' is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. It is also the word for a symmetrical open plane curve, such as the path of a projectile under the influence of gravity.  Born from the wreckage of a comet, G finds himself lost in a surreal landscape. He embarks on an odyssey that carries him through deserts, islands, seas and mountains, meeting mythical creatures and fantastical characters. At the beginning of his journey, G discovers the hat of imagination, allowing him to change form and shape at will. He realises he has a purpose, though he has not yet found what it is. The exhibition explores ideas of imagination and creativity through a charged story applicable to modern life, employing a host of metaphorical characters in highly imaginative and often surreal scenes. 

A London based Italian artist, Bufarini began painting murals on abandoned walls in Bologna and Florence in the 1990s under the pseudonym 'RUN'. Working as RUN within the Italian underground scene, Bufarini and his fellow collaborators catalysed the European street art movement and began to affect a modern renaissance in muralism across the continent.  RUN became a street art legend as Bufarini proliferated his unique and highly recognisable style internationally and today his expansive public works can be found adorning street corners from China to Senegal.  Bufarini's murals reveal levels of detail and complexity through vivid renderings of interlocking hands and faces in bright, arresting colours. Inspired by his travels around the world, Bufarini is interested in anthropology and the human form, integrating images and symbols from different cultures into his work. Based in London since 2007, he now balances his street works with a studio practice that draws out a deeper and more subtle side to his work.

Bufarini's studio practice sees him working in a range of mediums and techniques, including wooden sculptural forms, printing, etching, drawing and monotyping on wood, canvas and paper. His illustrative style depicts a world of fantastical characters and settings from which his large scale street works derive.

Following the closing of the exhibition the Parabola Di G installation was destroyed by Bufarini.  This process was documented here: 

Selected Press: 

Internazionale
Grafik
Arrested Motion
Hi Fructose

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