cups and balls (IV), 2025
oil on linen
30 x 40 cm
12 x 16 in

In the cups and balls series of paintings, Sartuzi plays with different variations of the classic magic trick in which the magician shifts the positions of small balls in a game of vanishes and reappearances. Performed in countless ways throughout history, the trick involves making the spheres travel from one cup to another, seemingly passing through solid matter, disappearing, and multiplying. The series experiments with different arrangements of the same basic elements, in a Morandian-like exercise. These are toned down paintings, rendered in tonal variations of black and white — most made only with titanium white and ivory black — that explore transparencies and, in some cases, reveal the position of an extra hidden ball.

Photography: Edouard Fraipont