Following several collaborative projects, Rafael Sottolichio officially joins the gallery. He presents Memento, an exhibition that continues Sic transit, a series initiated in 2024.
In his studio, Rafael draws inspiration from photographs taken over the past thirty years, depicting landscapes, portraits, travels, studio scenes, and intimate moments. Once translated into painting, this extensive archive of personal images becomes a poignant reflection on time and memory.
Rafael Sottolichio collects, archives, and preserves photographs. These collections have long accompanied him in his daily studio practice. Once relegated to the background, they now serve as the point of departure for this new body of work. By revisiting them, the artist reactivates his memory and uncovers connections between different periods of his life and artistic practice. Like a family album or a reliquary, this collection reveals both what endures and what gradually fades from memory and the recollections of the past.
This return to his photographic archive rekindles a formative period in his artistic journey. An encounter with painter Beth Leblanc led him back to his early years as a painter and renewed his relationship with photography. Immersing himself once again in this collection, the artist rediscovers these images in a new light: they are no longer merely traces of reality, but become a space where memories are reassembled, transformed, and continue to nourish his artistic practice.
