Vincenzo Raimondo - La regina e il pedone

Oil painting on canvas 60x90 cm
The queen and the pawn openly play with the language of chess to talk about power, loneliness, and imbalance. The female figure dominates the scene by size, posture, and presence. She is a 'queen' not because she flaunts strength, but because she embodies it without the need for a face, a gaze, or explicit identity. The absent face does not take away humanity; it amplifies it: the viewer is forced to project, to enter the frame, to complete it.

The checkered floor is not a mere graphic trick. It is a field of mental play, a clear yet not banal metaphor: every step is a choice, every position has a price. In the distance, the small solitary pawn, fragile, almost invisible compared to the central figure. And yet it is there. Not decorative. Necessary. Without pawns there is no game, without weakness there is no power.

The palette is restrained, never loud. The skin tones interact with the blue background, creating an emotional contrast between intimacy and distance. The light is soft, almost suspended, as if time had been paused an instant before a decisive move.

Stylistically the work sits between symbolic figuration and conceptual surrealism. It does not tell a self-contained story, but opens a line of thought.

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As a self-taught artist, my work doesn't adhere to a fixed style, but evolves over time and with experience.
My painting stems from observing daily life and listening to emotions.
I tackle different themes and experiment with new languages, letting each work find its own form.
My art is instinctive, essential, and imperfect, tied to the complexity of human beings and nature.
Art, for me, is not decoration but an authentic, lived presence.

In 2015 and 2016 I was a finalist in the Sunday Painters competition promoted by La Stampa, among over 3,000 works selected.
The selections were curated by a qualified jury, with critic Francesco Bonami in attendance.
The finalists were presented in a program associated with Artissima – the International Contemporary Art Fair in Turin. In 2016 I received the Critics' Prize (First Prize).