FRANCESCO DI LERNIA was born in Turin, Italy in 1966, where he lives and works. Since the 1990’s, Francesco Di Lernia has taken his adept brushwork into the realms of magic realism, he goes there as if on a mission, a calling. His production will focus, at times for many years, on a theme or a concept that fulfills both his desire to paint well and explore surreal corners of perception: a glowing green entity among everyday street-scenes or dinner-table conversations; suitcases and travel gear abandoned amid dense and forbidding jungles and forests; cheerful crowded beaches along the Italian Riviera where sunbathers are menaced by sudden darkness. Lately, Francesco envisions lovely views from the Lido of Venice – Hotel Belvedere- as giant icebergs encroach upon the scene, penguins and palm trees, sand dunes and snowbanks and, of course, the nonchalant swimmers and sunbathers, all happily existing in complete indifference. Di Lernia’s magic realism has as much to do with the viewer’s troubled conscience as his own.