Let Me Go Between Tension and Transcendence

In Let Me Go, Giampiero Abate once again draws us into his Ultrareal dimension, where the boundary between virtual and tangible dissolves. The figure emerges—or perhaps sinks—into an undefined, theatrical backdrop, a cone of light slicing through the darkness. The body, flawlessly modeled and rendered using airbrush technique, seems to hover between life and matter, between ecstasy and captivity.

The outstretched arms, hands twisted in a dramatic gesture, and the face tilted upward all convey extreme tension: is this a gesture of liberation or surrender? The question remains unanswered, leaving the viewer suspended in ambiguity. In this state of suspension, Abate speaks to us through “false” bodies—constructed with the aid of 3D software—that express deeply truthful emotions.

It is in this contradiction that the strength of the piece lies: the idealized body becomes unsettling precisely because of its perfection, disturbed by a missing element, an unnatural posture, a light that sculpts but does not reveal.

Let Me Go is part of the Sabbie Immobili series, and like the other works in the cycle, it reflects on the human condition in contemporary times: stuck, restrained, hypnotized by a reality that feels like wet sand. One cannot tell whether we are sinking or soaring.