Brightly colored clouds of pink smoke emerge from scenes of idyllic and undisturbed nature. A vacant warehouse fills with a green haze of smoke. These are the images Italian artist Filippo Minelli creates in his striking series “Silence/Shapes” on view at Beetle+Huxley through August 29.Previously unseen in the UK, these exquisitely colored prints and video installations rely on the tool of a smoke bomb to create this unusual scenes in natural and industrial settings. Minelli challenges the viewer’s perception of the smoke bomb, an object typically associated with chaos, instead gently incorporating its ethereal effect to create scenes beautiful and expressive.The artist's use of the smoke bomb is actually rooted in his own political activism as social and political issues have proved integral to Minelli’s oeuvre. The outcome of his series “Silence/Shapes,” which he began in 2009, is much different from his early graffiti and street art, instead creating works that speak to the sublime while still incorporating an element of protest.Through tranquil scenes of nature across frozen tundras of ice and green forests, Minelli’s colored clouds appear surreal yet contained within the natural landscape. In industrial settings the plume of smoke appears more sinister, ominous.Filippo Minelli’s “Silence/Shapes” is on view through August 28 at Beetle+Huxley in London.
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