After the Argenti (silver) series, the magic of images continues with the Ori (gold) works in the present show, where erotic photographs from the late 1800s dissolve and rematerialize with gold enamel that conveys imagery made of flesh and dreams. Wunderkammer Visionnaire hosts this new chapter of Paolo Leonardo’s research, continuing the exploration already begun with Urban Icons in 2014.

As in the urban actions and interventions on advertising posters with enamel paints, and the idea of street art as a political gesture, the aim of Paolo Leonardo remains that of freeing the feminine being from stereotypes, making her a subject and not just an object. The Ori works pursue this intent through the transformation of historical images, where the gold enamel redefines and elevates the presence of the feminine figure.

To produce this series the artist has utilized ten images of female nudes made between 1880 and 1900, in albumen and gelatin silver prints from the collection of the Associazione per la Fotografia Storica of Turin. Often captured by anonymous photographers for artists studying the nude, these photographs become, through Paolo Leonardo’s painted interventions on enlarged prints, figures delivered to a broader temporal dimension and elevated to the rank of queens (Regine).