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Since the end of March, the Nicole Gnesa Gallery has been showing works by Alfredo Barsuglia in the exhibition Gitum. The exhibition title gitum is the inversion of the German word “mutig”. This linguistic inversion reflects a central theme of the exhibition: the meaning of words, the transformation of language and the subjective nature of communication. Nicole Gnesa tells us below about her favorite painting – Michael. You can see it on the right wall in the exhibition view below.

“Alfredo Barsuglia’s painting Michael (2024, acrylic on wood, 50×40 cm) shows a sleeping cat: calm, absorbed, almost floating on a neutral, gray background. The depiction is of impressive precision. Barsuglia’s glazed painting technique achieves a depth and luminosity that lends the picture an almost tangible physicality. The animal appears alive and at the same time completely enraptured.

The emptiness of the background
The emptiness of the background is not a decorative element, but an essential part of the composition. It deprives the motif of any narrative surroundings and thus places it in an open, timeless space. This deliberate reduction not only creates concentration, but also distance. The motif stands on its own and thus invites contemplation, without distraction, without context, without explanation.
Symbol of tranquillity
This restraint creates a contemplative moment. The sleeping cat becomes a symbol of calm, of pausing in the flow of everyday life. Barsuglia’s picture gives no impulse for interpretation, it does not demand an interpretation. Instead, it opens up a space, a quiet, almost meditative state of perception. The gaze lingers. You don’t just observe, you are connected with the depicted in a shared moment of stillness.

Precision of every brushstroke
The incredible technique with which Barsuglia created the painting is particularly remarkable. The astounding precision of the depiction leaves the viewer in awe. Each brushstroke seems to create a world of its own that goes far beyond photorealism. The transition between fur and skin is so finely worked out that the boundary between painting and reality is almost blurred. This incredible mastery of detail sets the work apart from mere depiction and lends it a sublime, almost supernatural quality.
Presence of painting
Despite the hyper-realistic effect, Michael is no illusion. The painting does not recede behind the motif, but always remains present – in the finest transitions, in the individual nuances of the fur, in the clear demarcation from the surface. This creates a tension between visibility and substance, between presence and abstraction.
Michael tells nothing and cannot be put into words, it works. It is a picture that you don’t look at, but experience, as a haven of peace in a noisy, fast-paced world.” Nicole Gnesa

Above: Alfredo Barsuglia, Michael, 2024, acrylic on wood, 50×40 cm, below exhibition view from outside/ in detail.