The Catalogue

Thomas Berra (1986) is an emerging artist whose paintings show a fine poetic sensitivity, evoking both the Italian Transavantgarde and the suburban aesthetics typical to artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat.

The catalogue designed for this exhibition was the first one of a series designed for the art shows curated by UNA art gallery for Milan’s Spazio Leonardo, a corporate space of Leonardo Assicurazioni dedicated to contemporary art.

A Painting Exploration

The design of this catalogue followed two other publications related to Berra that were designed before—Verde Indagine—published by Placentia Arte gallery—and the artist’s book Franco & Renata—published by Fondazione Pastificio Cerere.

Both paintings and the site-specific mural painting follow the artistic journey started by the artist in 2016, which is focused on the exploration of the world of vegetation and that of vagrant plants in particular.

The Cover

The cover stands out thanks to the coloured letters of the title—which seems to be “cut off” from the main painting exhibited in the show—positioned against the white background of the uncoated paper.

This solution allowed to emphasise the gestural art of Berra, which is also reinforced by the use of rough gloss finishing giving thickness and substance to the colour.

On the inside, the cover shows the same painting that, in this way, reveals itself in all its strenght, also generating a visual relationship between the inside and the outside of the catalogue’s cover.

The Layout Composition

The composition of the pages has been entirely structured on a modular grid, that has been specifically designed in order to keep the original proportions of the images unchanged.

The sequence of images has been carefully studied in order to enhance the photographs, optimise the printing, and establish a narrative trend between the images.

All the texts have been entirely set with one typeface only, used in two weights and two sizes, which has been expressly redrawn for the catalogue.

Sharpness and Elegance

The catalogue was an integral part of the exhibition, enhancing the quality of paintings through a sharp and elegant layout, which is both functional to the catalogue’s contents and consistent to the exhibition space of Spazio Leonardo’s gallery.

—Nicola-Matteo Munari