Juan Tessi’s artistic practice is characterized by a continuous and irreverent interrogation of the possibilities of painting, through which he has developed an idiosyncratic and deeply personal visual language that remains in constant flux. His ongoing engagement with what he calls “the problem of painting” brings together visual references to figuration, the archaic, and abstraction, while examining the tensions and exchanges between the fundamental elements of pictorial language: primed and oil-painted surfaces set against raw linen; line juxtaposed with fields of color; the interior and exterior of the canvas.

These explorations are often informed by references to the body and its drives, as well as by a desire to keep the work open to continual processes of destabilization—an attitude that resonates strongly with the present. In his recent works, Tessi introduces materials such as lace, ceramics, acrylic, and necklace beads, which he describes as “interferences” within the painting itself. Rather than functioning as decorative additions or elements external to the pictorial field, these materials generate new relationships between surface, matter, image, and space.

The artist’s current thinking about painting has also been shaped by his return to the study and practice of classical piano. One of the works in the exhibition features the name of Italian pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, precisely laser-cut in acrylic. Tessi is drawn to Michelangeli’s refinement and extraordinary precision, particularly his almost uncompromising fidelity to the musical score. The reference offers another way of considering the relationship between rigor, interpretation, and freedom.

A small work makes a subtle reference to Minimalism while foregrounding the material properties of oil paint: a rectangle of gauze is attached to the support solely with oil paint, which functions simultaneously as a literal and metaphorical adhesive. Elsewhere, the surface of a painting evokes the soft, muted tones of a fresco. Together, these works reveal a defining aspect of Tessi’s practice: the breadth and diversity of his inquiries, and his willingness to open up and pursue new paths rather than settle into a recognizable formal language. The coherence of his work lies not in the repetition of a visual formula, but in a sustained commitment to experimentation and in what might simply be described as a distinctly “Tessi” sensibility.

Juan Tessi has presented a solo exhibition at the Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires (MALBA) and has participated in group exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid, and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Rosario, among others. His work is held in the collections of MALBA (Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires), the Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires, the Jorge Pérez Collection / Espacio 23 in Miami, the Azcuy Collection, and the Klemm Foundation in Buenos Aires, among others.