ARTmine Review
Francesca Romana Mainieri is a painter whose work is an intriguing and delightful amalgamation of traditional and contemporary styles. With a focus on the archetypal images of Western painting, Mainieri works in chromatic layers, often utilizing a glazing technique typical of the Flemish School. Producing work on canvas in triptych or diptychs she refers to as "walls", Mainieri´s hybrid style melds classical mediums - powdered pigments, egg tempera, linseed oil, boles, gold and silver leaves - with acrylic. To obtain the craquelure look of ancient paintings she collages textiles or crumpled, multihued paper into the canvas. In her recent work, she explores the signs of Japanese and Chinese calligraphy. Rendered in a simple, elegant schema - Verona green, ultramarine, bronze, maroon and dusty gold - Mainieri´s paintings are monumental in size and of a tasteful, immeasurable solidity.
Francesca Romana Mainieri was born in 1958 in Rome, Italy. She received her Master´s in Art History at the La Sapienza University of Rome and is a professionally trained restorer of wall paintings.
Nellie Scott, Agora Gallery, New York 2010 - 2011
