Stefano Nurra - Side-swinging

The work features two portions of tennis courts, located at the top and bottom of the composition, like suspended green islands within a strongly textured black surface. The areas of the playing surface, painted with a range of modulated greens, are outlined by irregular edges that reveal the thick, gestural painting of the artist.

In the upper half, a miniature figure is caught in the act of hitting the ball, suggesting tension and dynamism. In the lower part, a second player, rendered with a more defined stroke, waits or responds to the shot, creating a slowed but intense narrative that exists in the physical distance between the two green planes.

At the center of the canvas emerges a tactile white element, a kind of suspended horizontal bar that serves as a threshold or visual separator. Its presence, dense and imperfect, introduces a break that transforms the play into a metaphor of distance, opposition, and dialogue.

The contrast between the graphic precision of the lines of the field and the roughness of the dark background creates a balance between control and energy, between sporting discipline and pictorial impulse. The work is thus read as a reflection on the confrontation, real or symbolic, between two presences that share the same space but never fully inhabit it.