Midili’s sculptural works are constructed from discarded paintings found in art school dumpsters. Intrigued by the anonymous history of these abandoned artworks, Midili is inspired to revive and re-assemble them to create a sense of animated interplay and juxtaposition. He first fabricates a supporting structure from wood, and then repurposes the paintings by cutting, shaping, and assembling the excerpts on the armature to give the work its final form.

Beyond the Shape draws on the concept that, at first glance, one might merely see shapes when looking at a work of art.  However, in reality, there are feelings of passion, frustration, desperation, and countless other emotions hidden in the invisible layers of any artwork. Midili invites us to look more deeply into his sculptures and investigate the stories yearning to be heard as they are whispered from within the painting excerpts which serve as the basis for his work.

Carmelo Midili is an Italian artist who has lived and worked in the United States since 2005. Midili has mounted a vast number of exhibitions both across the United States and abroad. He has held residency fellowships at Teton Artlab, Weir Farm Art Center, The Edward F. Albee Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, Sculpture Space, among others. Midili is a recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, and his work has been reviewed in Flash Art Online Magazine, Concord Monitor, Art New England, Il Mattino, and more. He earned a degree in Civil Engineering from The Polytechnic University in Torino and subsequently went on to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, and The Art Students League of New York.