Tag: new icons

Alexander Sasha Parkevich (1941-2016)

Posted on by criticoarte in Blog, Blog ing

Today is 13 August and, as well as being my birthday, it is the fifth anniversary of the death of a great artist of Russian origin who travelled the globe, a true Artist of the World: Alexander Sasha Parkevich (Moscow, 1941 – Plain, 2016). In 2018 I was contacted by one of Sasha’s sisters, Natalia Codevilla, a fine artist herself now based in Milan, commissioning me to write a critical analysis of her late brother’s artistic poetics that would accompany a commemorative exhibition in Wisconsin, America. I accepted with enthusiasm because Sasha Parkevich’s works speak to the heart and trigger many thoughts and reflections. Today, in order to remember him and to make him known to those who have not yet had the opportunity to see his work, I present here the art criticism written in both English and Dutch.
Enjoy your reading.

Sasha Parkevich, the creator of Modern Divinities

Two years have already passed since the death of Alexander Sasha Parkevich (Moscow 1941 – Plain 2016), an eclectic artist of profound culture and modern Renaissance man. Sasha never wanted to confide his past history but, thanks to his many works (paintings, sculptures and graphics with sketches and comics) imbued with his distinct sensitivity, even those who were not fortunate enough to know him personally now have the opportunity to enter his transcendental, symbolic and spiritual world.

Sasha was a multi-faceted artist with multiple passions, as he himself said, ‘people need to have a passion for something’. Even from his youth, he was attracted to literature, languages, art history and cultures, architecture, gardening, nature and above all to ‘doing’ in the first person: already during his stay in Trieste, Italy (1951-1958), this philosophy of life soon led him to make his first reproductions of Italian Renaissance works of art, which he took up again later, as he came of age, as evidenced by the quick and incomplete sketch in his notebook representing The Madonna and Child, or Madonna of the Chair by Raphael Sanzio, 1513-1514 now in the Palatine Gallery of Palazzo Pitti in Florence.

His mastery and creativity were consolidated not only by his studies at the Fine Art Institute of Indianapolis in the early 1960s, but also by the numerous journeys he undertook between Chicago, San Francisco, Spain, Germany and Mexico between the 1960s and 1970s, during which he never stopped studying and observing the world around him. It was during this twenty-year period that the young artist produced a large number of rapid sketches of different subjects, transfiguring their souls and elaborating on the many artistic currents he observed during his pilgrimages. In his notebooks, one can see reclining nudes with a clear Symbolist and Expressionist quality reminiscent of Egon Schiele’s studies, but also more composed nudes with Matisse-like masks and Picasso-like African masks, such as Women with Chocolate Cookies. In other sketches, human presences can be found in highly detailed interior scenes such as American Gothic # II (homage to Mr and Mrs Grundenbacker) which pays homage to the American artist Grand Wood, or in everyday scenes such as Homage to Edward Hopper or, finally, in astronomical, symbolic, surreal and primordial landscapes rendered with shorthand mastery that closely resemble the works of Joan Mirò, such as the study for Menzonita Busches.

However, it was his stay in Greece between 1983 and 1985, first on the island of Santorini in the village of Oia and then on the island of Lesbos, that gave the artist his first strong impulse: here Sasha was able to concentrate uninterruptedly on his work, perfecting his painting technique and establishing his new philosophy. Looking at her quick sketches of the island’s stray dogs and her charcoal on paper with Two stray dogs, one can see how important these animals were for understanding Mother Nature: in these works, a new spirituality and Sasha’s transcendent soul are legitimised by the laws of Nature because, according to her philosophy, “we are here because Mother Nature wants us to be here. Our sense are her sense. Our hopes, aspirations, fantasies and loneliness are her also”. This does not mean that the artist has simply rendered the subjects in a passive and realistic manner; on the contrary, they have been reworked according to the emotional value of the experience lived in that instant, according to a markedly subjective vision, in the words of Sasha “my Santorini stay was the experiance of a lifetime. When I think of Santorini, there are so many good memories and so many great experiences”. Greece also played another important role for the artist: here he rediscovered his old love for iconographic art, which was so forbidden in Russia during the Stalin regime. In fact, Parkevich produced several icons on wood, in reduced format, of clear religious value, such as the reproduction of the 12th century Mother of God Eleousa, known as the Mother of Vladimir, now in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow: Sasha wanted to use the traditional Russian iconographic method with gold leaf and natural colours, ground by hand and added with an emulsion based on yolk and white wine, to give the two-dimensional images hieraticity and marked symbolism, thus uniting the sensory world with the trans-sensory and trans-temporal world. All this intense work earned him the title of Icon Painter.

His return to America at the end of the 1980s, more precisely to the small town of Plain in Wisconsin, gave Sasha his second artistic impulse: here he finally felt at home and built with his own hands his studio and private garden to exalt Mother Nature to the maximum. His analyses and studies did not end there, as he was constantly searching for something in his art and, as his sister Zora Tammer said, ‘he wanted to make something beautiful with his hands’. Looking at the artist’s production over the last thirty years, one can perceive an intense investigation into Nature, man and the deepest soul. Thanks to Francis Bacon, famous for his disturbing and disfigured portraits characterised by a violent expressionistic charge, by the first half of the 1990s Sasha grasped the soul and feelings of his subjects to transport them exclusively onto their faces, distorted and swollen, made by instinctive, automatic and almost casual brushstrokes. These transfigured works include oil paintings entitled Francis Bacon tribute and King Lear, mixed media oil-pastel paintings depicting the portrait of Dragan Parkevich and The Gambler portrait and, pastel works and sketches depicting Eight portrait sketches of Cardinals who almost became Pope, Six Historic Characters, Six Philosophers, and Nadezhda (Hope in Russian). Of the latter work, it is interesting to note what it conceals: during his childhood, the artist heard a tragic story of a young bride who was struck down by a mysterious illness that changed her external beauty and forced her to shut herself away in a monastery surrounded only by books, poetry and a small icon.

It is now clear how important Russian icons were in Sasha Parkevich’s background from an early age but, having made them his own, from 2000 until his death he decided to create new Cosmic Deities, new Icons, which he made naturally without effort and which, in his words, “I never worry if it is saying anything or does it make any sense”. By now he had completely broken out of the vicious circle of religions, instituted by men themselves in order to have no responsibility for their own actions: his modern Deities were exclusively spiritual and based on Mother Nature and her laws, leading him to take up anthropological, geological and astronomical sciences as well. Sasha defined his Deities primarily as objects of art and they were for him “portraits of our souls on the good days and on the bad days”: thus, for example, Galaxy salesman (oil on panel), Preistess from puma-Punka or Dark figure (both oil on canvas), Study of a Saint (oil on styrofoam) and Socrates on the edge of the circle (pastel on paper), represent deified human souls within blinding golden Almonds that stand out in the dark and silent cosmic space. Painted in a symbolic and expressionistic manner, with brushstrokes laden with thick matter that made them three-dimensional, Sasha’s Deities transcend the intent of the subject and become pure spirit, outside of raw and binding corporeal matter, in a Universe-Mother Nature that gives the possibility to create a new spiritual order , as can also be seen in Golden Diety # II (oil on canvas) in which the gold leaf and almond (a typical element of traditional icons) prevail over the entire space of the canvas, thus reaching the apex of the process of deification and complete detachment from matter.

In conclusion, it can be said that Alexander Sasha Parkevich has succeeded in fully achieving his goal: to make himself known only through his works of art.

                                                                                               Milan May 2018

Alexander Sasha Parkevich (1941-2016)

Posted on by criticoarte in Blog, blog-nl

Vandaag is het 13 augustus en is het niet alleen mijn verjaardag, maar ook de vijfde sterfdag van een groot kunstenaar van Russische afkomst die de hele wereld over reisde, een echte Artist of the World: Alexander Sasha Parkevich (Moskou, 1941 – Plain, 2016). In 2018 werd ik benaderd door een van Sasha’s zussen, Natalia Codevilla, zelf beeldend kunstenaar en nu gevestigd in Milaan, met de opdracht een kritische analyse te schrijven van de artistieke poëtica van haar overleden broer, die bij een herdenkingstentoonstelling in Wisconsin, Amerika, zou worden gevoegd. Ik heb het met enthousiasme aanvaard omdat de werken van Sasha Parkevich tot het hart spreken en veel gedachten en overpeinzingen losmaken. Om hem te gedenken en om hem voor te stellen aan hen die nog niet de gelegenheid hebben gehad zijn werk te zien, geef ik hier vandaag de geschreven kunstkritiek weer.
Veel plezier bij het lezen.

Sasha Parkevich, de schepper van Modern Divinities

Twee jaar zijn reeds verstreken sinds het overlijden van Aleksandr Sasha Parkevitsj (Moskou 1941 – Plain 2016), een eclectisch kunstenaar van diepgaande cultuur en moderne Renaissanceman. Sasha heeft nooit zijn verleden willen toevertrouwen, maar dankzij zijn vele werken (schilderijen, beeldhouwwerken en grafiek met schetsen en strips) die doordrongen zijn van zijn uitgesproken gevoeligheid, hebben zelfs degenen die niet het geluk hadden hem persoonlijk te kennen, nu de gelegenheid zijn transcendente, symbolische en spirituele wereld binnen te treden.

Sasha was een veelzijdig kunstenaar met meerdere passies, zoals hij zelf zei: “mensen moeten ergens een passie voor hebben”. Reeds vanaf zijn jeugd werd hij aangetrokken door literatuur, talen, kunstgeschiedenis en culturen, architectuur, tuinieren, natuur en vooral door het “doen” in de eerste persoon: Reeds tijdens zijn verblijf in Triëst, Italië (1951-1958), bracht deze levensfilosofie hem ertoe zijn eerste reproducties te maken van Italiaanse renaissancekunstwerken, die hij later, toen hij volwassen was, weer oppakte, zoals blijkt uit de snelle en onvolledige schets in zijn notitieboekje voorstellende De Madonna met kind, of Madonna van de stoel van Rafaël Sanzio, 1513-1514 nu in de Palatijngalerij van Palazzo Pitti in Florence.

Zijn meesterschap en creativiteit werden niet alleen geconsolideerd door zijn studies aan het Fine Art Institute of Indianapolis in het begin van de jaren zestig, maar ook door de talrijke reizen die hij ondernam tussen Chicago, San Francisco, Spanje, Duitsland en Mexico tussen de jaren zestig en zeventig, gedurende welke hij nooit ophield de wereld om hem heen te bestuderen en te observeren. In deze periode van twintig jaar maakte de jonge kunstenaar een groot aantal snelle schetsen van verschillende onderwerpen, waarbij hij hun ziel veranderde en voortborduurde op de vele artistieke stromingen die hij tijdens zijn pelgrimstochten waarnam. In zijn notitieboekjes ziet men liggende naakten met een duidelijk symbolistisch en expressionistisch karakter, die doen denken aan de studies van Egon Schiele, maar ook meer gecomponeerde naakten met een Matisse-gehalte en Picasso-achtige Afrikaanse maskers, zoals Vrouwen met chocoladekoekjes. In andere schetsen is de menselijke aanwezigheid terug te vinden in zeer gedetailleerde interieurscènes zoals American Gothic # II (hommage aan Mr and Mrs Grundenbacker) dat een hommage brengt aan de Amerikaanse kunstenaar Grand Wood, of in alledaagse scènes zoals Hommage aan Edward Hopper of, tenslotte, in astronomische, symbolische, surrealistische en primordiale landschappen die met een stenografische beheersing zijn weergegeven en die sterk lijken op de werken van Joan Mirò, waarvan de studie voor Menzonita Busches een voorbeeld is.

Het was echter zijn verblijf in Griekenland tussen 1983 en 1985, eerst op het eiland Santorini in het dorp Oia en daarna op het eiland Lesbos, dat de kunstenaar zijn eerste sterke impuls gaf: hier kon Sasha zich ononderbroken op zijn werk concentreren, zijn schildertechniek perfectioneren en zijn nieuwe filosofie vestigen. Wie haar snelle schetsen van de zwerfhonden van het eiland en haar houtskool op papier met Twee zwerfhonden bekijkt, ziet hoe belangrijk deze dieren waren voor het begrijpen van Moeder Natuur: in deze werken worden een nieuwe spiritualiteit en Sasha’s transcendente ziel gelegitimeerd door de wetten van de natuur, want volgens haar filosofie “zijn wij hier omdat Moeder Natuur wil dat wij hier zijn. Ons gevoel is haar gevoel. Onze hoop, aspiraties, fantasieën en eenzaamheid zijn ook van haar”. Dit betekent niet dat de kunstenaar de onderwerpen eenvoudigweg op een passieve en realistische manier heeft weergegeven; integendeel, ze zijn bewerkt volgens de emotionele waarde van de ervaring die op dat moment werd beleefd, volgens een uitgesproken subjectieve visie, in de woorden van Sasha “mijn verblijf in Santorini was de ervaring van mijn leven”. Als ik aan Santorini denk, zijn er zoveel goede herinneringen en zoveel geweldige ervaringen”. Griekenland speelde ook een andere belangrijke rol voor de kunstenaar: hier herontdekte hij zijn oude liefde voor iconografische kunst, die in Rusland tijdens het Stalin-regime zo verboden was. Parkevitsj vervaardigde verschillende iconen op hout, in verkleind formaat, met een duidelijke religieuze waarde, zoals de reproductie van de 12e-eeuwse Moeder Gods Eleousa, bekend als de Moeder van Vladimir, die zich nu in de Tretjakov Galerij in Moskou bevindt: Sasha wilde de traditionele Russische iconografische methode gebruiken met bladgoud en natuurlijke kleuren, met de hand geslepen en toegevoegd met een emulsie op basis van dooier en witte wijn, om de tweedimensionale beelden hiërarchie en uitgesproken symboliek te geven en zo de zintuiglijke wereld te verenigen met de trans-zintuiglijke en trans-temporele wereld. Al dit intense werk leverde hem de titel van Icon Painter op.

Zijn terugkeer naar Amerika eind jaren tachtig, naar het stadje Plain in Wisconsin om precies te zijn, gaf Sasha zijn tweede artistieke impuls: hier voelde hij zich eindelijk thuis en bouwde hij met eigen handen zijn atelier en privétuin om Moeder Natuur maximaal te verheerlijken. Zijn analyses en studies hielden daar niet op, want hij was voortdurend op zoek naar iets in zijn kunst en, zoals zijn zus Zora Tammer zei, “hij wilde iets moois maken met zijn handen”. Wanneer men de produktie van de kunstenaar van de laatste dertig jaar bekijkt, kan men een intens onderzoek waarnemen naar de natuur, de mens en de diepste ziel. Dankzij Francis Bacon, beroemd om zijn verontrustende en misvormde portretten die gekenmerkt worden door een gewelddadige expressionistische lading, greep Sasha in de eerste helft van de jaren negentig naar de ziel en de gevoelens van zijn onderwerpen om die uitsluitend over te brengen op hun gezichten, vervormd en gezwollen, gemaakt met instinctieve, automatische en bijna terloopse penseelstreken. Deze getransfigureerde werken omvatten olieverfschilderijen getiteld Francis Bacon hommage en King Lear, gemengde olieverf-pastelschilderijen met het portret van Dragan Parkevitsj en het portret van De gokker, alsook werken en pastelschetsen met Acht portretschema’s van kardinalen die bijna Paus werden, Zes historische personages, Zes filosofen, en Nadezjda (Hoop in het Russisch). Van dit laatste werk is het interessant op te merken wat het verbergt: tijdens zijn jeugd hoorde de kunstenaar het tragische verhaal van een jonge bruid die werd getroffen door een mysterieuze ziekte die haar uiterlijke schoonheid veranderde en haar dwong zich op te sluiten in een klooster, slechts omringd door boeken, poëzie en een kleine icoon.

Het is nu duidelijk hoe belangrijk de Russische iconen van jongs af aan waren voor Sasha Parkevitsj, maar nadat hij ze zich eigen had gemaakt, besloot hij vanaf 2000 tot aan zijn dood nieuwe Kosmische Goden te creëren, nieuwe Iconen, die hij op natuurlijke wijze en zonder moeite maakte en die, in zijn woorden: “Ik maak me nooit zorgen of het wel iets zegt of zin heeft”. Hij had zich inmiddels volledig losgemaakt uit de vicieuze cirkel van religies, die door de mensen zelf waren ingesteld om geen verantwoordelijkheid te dragen voor hun eigen daden: zijn moderne godheden waren uitsluitend spiritueel en gebaseerd op Moeder Natuur en haar wetten, waardoor hij zich ook ging bezighouden met antropologische, geologische en astronomische wetenschappen. Sasha definieerde zijn godheden in de eerste plaats als kunstvoorwerpen en zij waren voor hem “portretten van onze zielen op de goede dagen en op de slechte dagen”: Zo stellen bijvoorbeeld Galaxy salesman (olieverf op paneel), Preistess van puma-Punka of Dark figure (beide olieverf op doek), Study of a Saint (olieverf op piepschuim) en Socrates aan de rand van de cirkel (pastel op papier), vergoddelijkte menselijke zielen voor binnen verblindend gouden amandelen die opvallen in de donkere en stille kosmische ruimte. Geschilderd op een symbolische en expressionistische manier, met penseelstreken beladen met dikke materie die hen driedimensionaal maakt, overstijgen Sasha’s godheden de intentie van het onderwerp en worden pure geest, buiten de rauwe en bindende stoffelijke materie, in een Universum-Moeder Natuur die de mogelijkheid biedt om een nieuwe spirituele orde te scheppen , zoals ook te zien is in Golden Diety # II (olieverf op doek) waarin het bladgoud en de amandel (een typisch element van traditionele iconen) de overhand hebben over de hele ruimte van het doek, en zo het toppunt bereiken van het proces van vergoddelijking en volledige onthechting van de materie.

Samenvattend kan men zeggen dat Aleksandr Sasha Parkevitsj er volledig in geslaagd is zijn doel te bereiken: zichzelf alleen bekend maken door middel van zijn kunstwerken.

                                                                                                Milaan Mei 2018

Vraag aan de kunstenaar: Gianni Depaoli

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Hoewel het nog maar enkele maanden geleden is dat ik de Piemontese kunstenaar Gianni Depaoli via het web ontmoette, is er een diep en wederzijds vertrouwen en respect ontstaan, evenals een grote bewondering voor de conceptuele werken van grote elegantie die hij creëert. Gianni Depaoli is de enige conceptuele kunstenaar in het project Hedendaagse Italiaanse Kunst in Nederland omdat hij, dankzij zijn intense artistieke poëtica, mijn aangeboren wantrouwen tegen deze vorm van hedendaagse kunst aan het wankelen heeft gebracht. De kunst van Gianni Depaoli is gebaseerd op de principes van eco-duurzaamheid en biodiversiteit die op de toeschouwer worden overgebracht door de creatie van installaties en werken (picturaal en sculpturaal, figuratief en abstract), die verschillende betekenissen verzamelen en identiteiten aannemen die terug te voeren zijn op historische en culturele contexten, altijd nauw verbonden met het respect voor de zee en voor organisch afval dat geladen is met een artistieke, lyrische en poëtische waarde en dat een “nieuw icoon” en een “hedendaags fossiel” kan worden genoemd. De Piemontese kunstenaar is al internationaal bekend en is al enkele jaren in Nederland aanwezig; na de afwezigheid van het afgelopen decennium heeft hij besloten zich weer te presenteren met zijn nieuwe conceptuele werken in de Manzoni Kunst Galerie in Oosterwolde.

Maar laten we eindelijk het woord geven aan Gianni Depaoli:

U bent een conceptueel kunstenaar en schepper van nieuwe gekristalliseerde en lyrische hedendaagse iconen: hoe bent u deze weg ingeslagen? Vertel ons over je artistieke reis.
Het begon allemaal in september 2007, toen een moedige directeur als Marco Valle van het E. Caffi Museum in Bergamo, na het zien van een project van mij dat nog in de kinderschoenen stond, besloot een hele tentoonstelling aan mij te wijden: “Zwarte Zee”. Dat kleine aantal werken – slechts zeven – vertegenwoordigde mijn eerste publieke optreden. Uit dat tamelijk gelukkige debuut is een tamtam ontstaan waarbij vele andere musea betrokken waren. In deze dagen zijn mijn “Constatazioni”, zoals ik ze noem en geen aanklachten omdat het gaat om situaties die altijd onder ieders ogen zijn geweest, in vele musea en instellingen te zien. Zij zijn erin geslaagd nieuwsgierigheid te wekken en uiteindelijk te komen tot het eerste kunstmuseum dat mij heeft verwelkomd, de Galerij van Moderne Kunst in Genua, onder leiding van Maria Flora Giubilei met wie wij op een ongetwijfeld bizar idee zijn gekomen: het museum te “vervuilen” door ontheiligende werken, zoals het mijne, te combineren met de meesterwerken van de tentoonstelling. Een risico dat zal leiden tot de realisatie van een hele catalogus, toegevoegd aan een verlenging van nog eens drie maanden en een pagina over “Van Genua tot Genua”, een boek van Andrea Ranieri, wethouder van cultuur van de Ligurische hoofdstad. Een grote voldoening. Van de schepping van werken die ondubbelzinnig wezen op de door de mens veroorzaakte rampen, tot het gebruik van organisch afvalmateriaal was de stap kort, namelijk om met zijn afval een van de voornaamste voedingsmiddelen te veredelen die de wereld altijd heeft gevoed: de vis.

Uw atelier verschilt sterk van het atelier van een schilder en is bijna te vergelijken met een alchemistisch laboratorium of een operatiekamer: heeft u zin om de sluier van het mysterie te ontdekken en die aan ons publiek te beschrijven? Welke gereedschappen en materialen gebruikt u, welke technieken…?
Mijn atelier is het pakhuis dat werd gebruikt voor de invoer, verwerking en distributie van vis, dat wil zeggen een voormalig koelhuis dat nu Menotrenta Museum heet, de tentoonstellingszalen zijn de voormalige koelkamers, de voormalige laboratoria zijn mijn atelier, de kantoren zijn gedeeltelijk receptie maar vooral een condensatie van vroegere projecten, toekomstige of nooit voltooide. Het nieuwe onderzoek dat rond 2014 werd ontwikkeld met het gebruik van inkt en huiden van koppotigen die werden behandeld om de natuurlijke kleur van de livrei te behouden, dankzij een door mij gepatenteerde methode, en gemanipuleerd met stalen naalden en chirurgische scalpels, leidt tot een transformatie van het materiaal om schoonheid en transparantie te ontdekken. Deze nieuwe studie geeft nieuw leven aan het organisch afval dat ik beschouw als de schakel en de onuitwisbare herinnering aan het product dat de mens heeft gevoed. “Van het eetbare dat het lichaam voedt, tot de kunst die de geest voedt”. De materieschildering wordt de sterkste impuls voor het onderzoek naar de natuurlijke kleur, die de enige gebruikte kleur zal worden, gereguleerd door de manipulatie van de chromatoforen die in het produkt aanwezig zijn, zonder toevoeging van kunstmatige kleuren. Met het project Abissi onderzoekt hij het bekende en het onbekende en de kronkelige wegen van het menselijk denken. Hij ontdekt en belicht de wonden en uitwassen van de gescheurde huid die afgronden en meanders worden waar gedachten verloren gaan en regenereren, en onthult zo het lijden dat ik heb ondergaan tijdens mijn levensweg, die ik definieer als mijn Via Crucis.

In 2010 had u de kans om de Affordable Art Fair in Amsterdam en de Open Art Fair in Utrecht bij te wonen: hoe voelde u zich toen en hoe hoopt u dat Nederland er in 2021 bij zal staan?
Het was voor mij een unieke ervaring, ook omdat ik meer dan 40 jaar met Nederland heb gewerkt: vanuit de havens van Urk, Volendam, Harlinger, Jimuiden importeerde ik Nederlandse vis voor scholen, schol. Toen ik kwam, bracht ik een project mee dat de geschiedenis van Nederland in verband met de visserij weergeeft, zoals mij verteld werd door plaatselijke vissers en producenten, en de ongelooflijke en buitengewone combinatie. Een klein land als onze regio heeft een product, de schol, dat over de hele wereld bekend is en gewaardeerd wordt, en nog een andere combinatie die de morfologie van die vis met Nederland verbindt, (maar dit zal ik pas onthullen als een Nederlandse openbare instelling mij zal uitnodigen om in Nederland een tentoonstelling te maken). Van daaruit begon mijn onderzoek en de eerste tentoonstelling met deze materialen werd in Nederland gemaakt, alle werken waren gemaakt met huiden van schol, historische visnetten, houten kisten uit de jaren 60 die nu in onbruik zijn geraakt. Het was een groot succes en ik kreeg ook een artikel in een plaatselijke krant opgedragen met de foto van een werk (Het Urkerland).

Wat zijn uw toekomstplannen voor de komende maanden? Waar ben je mee bezig?
Ik heb veel toekomstige projecten, zowel in termen van nieuw onderzoek dat ik doe als voor tentoonstellingen die we aan het voorbereiden zijn. Er zijn al veel evenementen gepland die zijn uitgesteld vanwege Covid 19, ik ben finalist in twee grote wedstrijden, ik bereid een solotentoonstelling voor die een belangrijke institutionele plaats zal innemen en ondersteund zal worden door een museum waar ik de werken die verkocht zullen worden zal schenken ten gunste van een vereniging die zich bezighoudt met de strijd tegen kanker, zoals in het verleden al is gedaan, en dat zal mijn voornaamste voorrecht voor de toekomst zijn (een belofte die ik aan mijn vrouw heb gedaan voordat ze wegvloog). Ik zal ook aanwezig zijn op enkele belangrijke afspraken in Italië en in het buitenland die reeds zijn gepland.

Wat is het uiteindelijke doel van de zeer persoonlijke en vernieuwende conceptuele kunst van Gianni Depaoli? Bent u niet bang dat slechts een kleine groep kunstliefhebbers de diepe boodschap begrijpt die uw werken uitdragen?
De werkelijkheid observeren en zo vormgeven dat mensen ervan kunnen genieten en zich ervan bewust worden, waarbij ik mijn innerlijk, mijn lijden maar ook het dagelijks genieten van de schoonheid die de natuur ons schenkt, extrapoleer. In mijn werken verschijnen gezichten, silhouetten soms openlijk onthuld en soms verborgen die mijn relatie met het onbekende en het zoeken naar de lichtheid van het zijn bekrachtigen. Onrust, bezorgdheid, angst, worden verbeeld door rijtwonden, afgronden en meanders die de huid verwonden, maar verdrijven door de transparante schoonheid van natuurlijke vormen en kleuren.
Ik ben altijd geïnteresseerd geweest in het naar voren brengen van het “detail”, het verbeelden van de backstage van het leven, het ontdekken van de verborgen constructie in plaats van te genieten van het eindresultaat. Het zijn de details die ons onderscheiden en ons uniek maken, onze onuitwisbare en herkenbare handtekening. Nee, ik maak me er geen zorgen over, integendeel, het fascineert me, als je de grens overgaat voor een experimenteel proces weet je al dat je moeilijkheden zult tegenkomen, moeilijkheden die zelfs de grote meesters zijn tegengekomen, Burri, Arman, Penone, Pistoletto om er maar een paar te noemen en nu zien we waar zij zijn aangekomen. Nu de kunstmensen op deze nieuwe procédés zijn voorbereid, zijn zij zelf op zoek naar nieuwe producties die hen kunnen verbazen. Gelukkig heb ik altijd verzamelaars ontmoet die in iets vernieuwends en ongewoons wilden investeren en musea die iets bijzonders wilden presenteren, wat betreft het materiaal, de manipulatie ervan, maar tegelijk ook zeer sterke concepten uitdrukken.

  • Gianni Depaoli, From Emotion to Reason, mixed media on fibre, leather and squid ink, methacrylate, 2020, 154x40x3 cm. “…giacché, quando s’è per la strada della passione, è naturale che i più ciechi guidino”(“…for when one is on the road of passion, it is natural that the most blind should lead”): citation taken from the historical essay Storia della Colonna Infame by Alessandro Manzoni, included as an Appendix in the tenth edition of the historical novel I Promessi Sposi of 1840. This quote is emblematic of the historical period we are living in and highlights decisions made irrationally under the emotional pull of the moment.
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  • Gianni Depaoli, VentiVenti (2020), mixed media on fibre, leather and squid ink, methacrylate, 2020, 154x40x3 cm. At the top, the inscription “Duemilaventi” (two thousand and twenty) is continuously repeated along the entire length of the work to remind us who escaped from Covid-19 and who did not.
  • Detail
  • Gianni Depaoli, Everybody against everybody, mixed media on fibre, leather and squid ink, methacrylate, 2021, 154x40x3 cm. From the 2016 song ‘Tutti contro tutti’ by the musical group Stadio to highlight the confusion of the people stirred by the words.
  • Detail with italian song: “Non mi fido di te-che così bene chiacchieri-perché hai già dimostrato-che non ti fai scrupoli.-E non mi fido di me,-perché per difendermi-ho dovuto imparare-anche ad assomigliarti.-È una guerra ogni giorno,-ogni istante che ti volti,-qualcuno cerca di fotterti,-non ci sono più regole-la parola d’ordine è-tutti contro tutti.-Non c’è più vergogna,-hai le spalle al muro,-non vince il più bravo,-ma il più furbo di sicuro.-Non fidarti di me-non sono quello che credi;-io parlo male di te-quando tu non mi vedi;-Con le tue strategie-ottieni quello che vuoi-ma con me non funziona,-lo so che gioco fai-È una guerra ogni giorno,-ogni istante che ti volti,-qualcuno cerca di fotterti,-non ci sono più regole-la parola d’ordine è-tutti contro tutti,-Bisognerebbe scoppiasse-una rivoluzione,-o che almeno tornasse-la buona educazione”.
  • Detail. English translation of the song: “I don’t trust you-who talks so well-because you have already proved-That you have no scruples-And I don’t trust me,-because to defend myself-I had to learn-even to look like you.-It’s a war every day,-every moment you turn around,-someone is trying to fuck you up,-There are no rules anymore-The password is-Everyone against everyone.-There’s no more shame-Your back’s against the wall-It’s not the best who wins,-The smartest guy wins.-Don’t trust me-I’m not what you think I am-I speak ill of you-when you don’t see me; With your strategies-You get what you want-But it doesn’t work with me,-I know what your game is-It’s a war every day-Every moment that you turn around-Someone’s trying to fuck you up-There are no rules anymore-The password is-Everyone against everyone,-There should be-A revolution-or at least a return-good manners”.
  • Detail
  • Gianni Depaoli, Solo, Mixed media on fibre, leather and squid ink, methacrylate, 2020, 154x40x3 cm. From Pope Francis’ invocation against the pandemic (27 March 2020) in a deserted St Peter’s Square: “…in silenzio assordante e di vuoto desolante. Ci siamo trovati soli e impauriti. Ci siamo resi conto di trovarci sulla stessa barca fragili e disorientati allo stesso tempo…”(“…in deafening silence and desolating emptiness. We found ourselves alone and afraid. We realised that we were in the same boat, fragile and disoriented at the same time…”).
  • Detail.
  • Gianni Depaoli, Expelled, mixed media on leather fibre and methacrylate squid ink, 2021, 154x40x3 cm. Bible, from the Book of Genesis III, 1-24: the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.
  • Detail. Gianni Depaoli, Expelled, mixed media on leather fibre and methacrylate squid ink, 2021, 154x40x3 cm.

Met grote dankbaarheid dank ik Gianni Depaoli voor zijn beschikbaarheid. Ik herinner de lezers eraan dat zij andere video’s kunnen lezen en bekijken op de pagina gewijd aan de kunstenaar op criticoarte.org: Gianni Depaoli – Italian art by ELisa Manzoni (criticoarte.org).

Ask the artist: Gianni Depaoli

Posted on by criticoarte in Blog, Blog ing

Although it has only been a few months since I first met Piedmontese artist Gianni Depaoli via the web, a deep mutual trust and esteem has been established, as well as a great admiration for the elegant conceptual works he creates. Gianni Depaoli is the only conceptual artist in the Contemporary Italian Art in the Netherlands project because his intense artistic poetics have shaken my innate distrust of this contemporary art form. Gianni Depaoli’s art is based on the principles of eco-sustainability and bio-diversity, which are conveyed to the observer through the creation of installations and works (pictorial and sculptural, figurative and abstract), which gather different meanings and take on identities that can be traced back to historical and cultural contexts that are always closely linked to respect for the sea and organic waste, which is charged with artistic, lyrical and poetic value and can be called a “new icon” and a “contemporary fossil”. The Piedmontese artist is already internationally known and has been present in the Netherlands for several years; after his absence in the last decade, he has decided to show his new conceptual works at the Manzoni Kunst Galerie in Oosterwolde.

But let’s finally give the opportunity to Gianni Depaoli to speak:

You are a conceptual artist and creator of new crystallised and lyrical contemporary icons: how did you get on this path? Tell us about your artistic journey.
It all began in September 2007 when a courageous director like Marco Valle of the E. Caffi Museum in Bergamo, after seeing a project of mine that was still in its embryonic stage, decided to dedicate an entire exhibition to me: “Mare Nero” (Black Sea). That small number of works – just seven – represented my first public appearance. From that rather fortunate debut, a tam-tam started that involved many other museums. These days, my ‘Constatazioni’, as I call them and not denunciations, since these situations have always been in the public eye, are on display in many museums and institutions. They have managed to arouse curiosity and finally arrive at the first art museum that has welcomed me in the Gallery of Modern Art in Genoa, directed by Maria Flora Giubilei, with whom I came up with a certainly bizarre idea: to “pollute” the museum by combining desecrating works, such as mine, with the masterpieces on display. A gamble that will lead to the production of an entire catalogue, plus an extension of another three months and a page on “From Genoa to Genoa”, a book by Andrea Ranieri, councillor for culture of the Ligurian capital. A great satisfaction. From the creation of works that unequivocally pointed out the disasters caused by man, to the use of organic waste material, the step was short, that is to say, to ennoble with its waste one of the primary foods that has always nourished the World: fish.

Your atelier is very different from a painter’s atelier and is almost on a par with an alchemist’s laboratory or an operating theatre: would you like to discover the veil of mystery and describe it to our audience? What tools and materials do you use, what techniques…?
My studio is the warehouse that was used for importing, processing and distributing fish, i.e. a former refrigerated warehouse now renamed Menotrenta Museum, the exhibition rooms are the former cold storage rooms, the former laboratories are my studio, the offices are partly a reception area but above all a condensation of past, future or never completed projects. The new research developed around 2014 using inks and cephalopod skins treated to preserve and maintain the natural colour of the livery, thanks to a method patented by me, and manipulated with steel needles and surgical scalpels, leads to transforming the material to discover its beauty and transparency. This new study gives new life to organic waste, which I consider the link and indelible memory of the product that nourished the Human Being. “From the edible that nourishes the body, to the art that nourishes the spirit”. Material painting becomes the strongest impulse for the search for natural colour, which will become the only colour used, regulated by the manipulation of the chromatophores existing in the product, without adding artificial colours. With the Abissi project, he investigates the known and the unknown and the tortuous paths of human thought. He discovers and highlights the wounds and excrescences of lacerated skin that become abysses and meanders where thought is lost and regenerated, revealing the suffering I have undergone during my life journey, which I define as my Via Crucis.

In 2010 you had the opportunity to attend the Affordable Art Fair in Amsterdam and the Open Art Fair in Utrecht: how did you find it at the time and how do you hope Holland will be in 2021?
It was a unique experience for me, also due to the fact that I had worked with Holland for more than 40 years: from the ports of Urk, Volendam, Harlinger, Jimuiden, I imported Dutch fish for schools, plaice. When I came, I brought a project representing Holland’s fishing history, told to me by local fishermen and producers, and the incredible and extraordinary combination. A small country like our region has a product, the plaice, that is known and appreciated all over the world, and another combination that links the morphology of that fish to Holland (but I will only reveal this when a Dutch public institution invites me to do an exhibition in Holland). From there my research started and the first exhibition with these materials was held in Holland, all the works were made with plaice skin, historical fishing nets, wooden crates from the 1960s which are now obsolete. It was a great success and I even got an article in a local newspaper with a photo of one of the works (Het Urkerland).

What are your future projects for the coming months? What are you working on?
I have many future projects, both in terms of new research that I am conducting and exhibitions that we are preparing. There are many events already planned that have been postponed due to Covid 19, I am a finalist in two important competitions, I am preparing a personal exhibition that will have an important institutional venue and that will be supported by a museum where I will donate works that will be sold to an association that deals with the fight against cancer, as I have done in the past, and that will be my main prerogative for the future (a promise I made to my wife before she flew away). I will also be present at some important events in Italy and abroad that have already been scheduled.

What is the ultimate goal of Gianni Depaoli’s highly personal and innovative Conceptual Art? Aren’t you afraid that only a narrow niche of art lovers can understand the profound message that your works convey?
Observing reality and shaping it so that people can enjoy it and become aware of it, by extrapolating my inner self, my sufferings but also the daily enjoyment of the beauty that nature gives us. My works feature faces and silhouettes, sometimes clearly revealed, sometimes hidden, which underline my relationship with the unknown and my search for the lightness of being. Restlessness, anguish and fear are represented by lacerations, abysses and meanders that wound the skin, but are exorcised by the transparent beauty of natural shapes and colours.
I have always been interested in bringing out the “detail”, imagining the backstage of life, discovering the hidden construction rather than enjoying the final result. It is the detail that differentiates us and makes us unique, our indelible and recognisable signature. No, it doesn’t worry me; on the contrary, it fascinates me. When you cross the border for an experimental process you already know that you will encounter difficulties, difficulties that the great masters have also encountered, Burri, Arman, Penone, Pistoletto to name but a few, and now let’s see where they have arrived. Now the people of art are prepared for these new processes, they themselves are looking for new productions that can amaze them. Fortunately, I have always met collectors who wanted to invest in something innovative and unusual and museums that wanted to present something particular, in terms of the material, its handling, but at the same time expressing very strong concepts.

  • Gianni Depaoli, From Emotion to Reason, mixed media on fibre, leather and squid ink, methacrylate, 2020, 154x40x3 cm. “…giacché, quando s’è per la strada della passione, è naturale che i più ciechi guidino”(“…for when one is on the road of passion, it is natural that the most blind should lead”): citation taken from the historical essay Storia della Colonna Infame by Alessandro Manzoni, included as an Appendix in the tenth edition of the historical novel I Promessi Sposi of 1840. This quote is emblematic of the historical period we are living in and highlights decisions made irrationally under the emotional pull of the moment.
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  • Gianni Depaoli, VentiVenti (2020), mixed media on fibre, leather and squid ink, methacrylate, 2020, 154x40x3 cm. At the top, the inscription “Duemilaventi” (two thousand and twenty) is continuously repeated along the entire length of the work to remind us who escaped from Covid-19 and who did not.
  • Detail
  • Gianni Depaoli, Everybody against everybody, mixed media on fibre, leather and squid ink, methacrylate, 2021, 154x40x3 cm. From the 2016 song ‘Tutti contro tutti’ by the musical group Stadio to highlight the confusion of the people stirred by the words.
  • Detail with italian song: “Non mi fido di te-che così bene chiacchieri-perché hai già dimostrato-che non ti fai scrupoli.-E non mi fido di me,-perché per difendermi-ho dovuto imparare-anche ad assomigliarti.-È una guerra ogni giorno,-ogni istante che ti volti,-qualcuno cerca di fotterti,-non ci sono più regole-la parola d’ordine è-tutti contro tutti.-Non c’è più vergogna,-hai le spalle al muro,-non vince il più bravo,-ma il più furbo di sicuro.-Non fidarti di me-non sono quello che credi;-io parlo male di te-quando tu non mi vedi;-Con le tue strategie-ottieni quello che vuoi-ma con me non funziona,-lo so che gioco fai-È una guerra ogni giorno,-ogni istante che ti volti,-qualcuno cerca di fotterti,-non ci sono più regole-la parola d’ordine è-tutti contro tutti,-Bisognerebbe scoppiasse-una rivoluzione,-o che almeno tornasse-la buona educazione”.
  • Detail. English translation of the song: “I don’t trust you-who talks so well-because you have already proved-That you have no scruples-And I don’t trust me,-because to defend myself-I had to learn-even to look like you.-It’s a war every day,-every moment you turn around,-someone is trying to fuck you up,-There are no rules anymore-The password is-Everyone against everyone.-There’s no more shame-Your back’s against the wall-It’s not the best who wins,-The smartest guy wins.-Don’t trust me-I’m not what you think I am-I speak ill of you-when you don’t see me; With your strategies-You get what you want-But it doesn’t work with me,-I know what your game is-It’s a war every day-Every moment that you turn around-Someone’s trying to fuck you up-There are no rules anymore-The password is-Everyone against everyone,-There should be-A revolution-or at least a return-good manners”.
  • Detail
  • Gianni Depaoli, Solo, Mixed media on fibre, leather and squid ink, methacrylate, 2020, 154x40x3 cm. From Pope Francis’ invocation against the pandemic (27 March 2020) in a deserted St Peter’s Square: “…in silenzio assordante e di vuoto desolante. Ci siamo trovati soli e impauriti. Ci siamo resi conto di trovarci sulla stessa barca fragili e disorientati allo stesso tempo…”(“…in deafening silence and desolating emptiness. We found ourselves alone and afraid. We realised that we were in the same boat, fragile and disoriented at the same time…”).
  • Detail.
  • Gianni Depaoli, Expelled, mixed media on leather fibre and methacrylate squid ink, 2021, 154x40x3 cm. Bible, from the Book of Genesis III, 1-24: the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.
  • Detail. Gianni Depaoli, Expelled, mixed media on leather fibre and methacrylate squid ink, 2021, 154x40x3 cm.

With immense gratitude, I thank Gianni Depaoli for his availability. I would like to remind readers that they can read and see other videos on the page dedicated to the artist on criticoarte.org: Gianni Depaoli – Italian art by ELisa Manzoni (criticoarte.org)

Domanda all’artista: Gianni Depaoli

Posted on by criticoarte in Blog, Blog ita

Anche se sono passati pochi mesi da quando ho conosciuto via web l’artista piemontese Gianni Depaoli, si è instaurata una profonda e reciproca fiducia e stima, nonché una grande ammirazione per le opere concettuali di grande eleganza che realizza. Gianni Depaoli è l’unico artista concettuale presente nel progetto Arte Italiana contemporanea in Olanda proprio perché, grazie alla sua intensa poetica artistica, ha scalfito la mia innata diffidenza verso questa forma d’arte contemporanea. L’arte di Gianni Depaoli si basa sui principi di eco-sostenibilità e di bio-diversità che vengono trasmessi all’osservatore tramite la creazione di installazioni e di opere (pittoriche e scultoree, figurative e astratte), che raccolgono significati diversi ed assumono identità riconducibili a contesti storici e culturali sempre strettamente connessi al rispetto del mare e dello scarto organico che si carica di valore artistico, lirico e poetico e può essere denominato come “nuova icona” e “fossile contemporaneo”. L’artista piemontese è già conosciuto a livello internazionale ed è stato presente sul territorio olandese per diversi anni; dopo l’assenza di quest’ultimo decennio, ha deciso di riproporsi con le nuove opere concettuali alla Manzoni Kunst Galerie di Oosterwolde.

Ma passiamo finalmente la parola a Gianni Depaoli:

Sei un artista concettuale e creatore di nuove icone contemporanee cristallizzate e liriche: come hai intrapreso questa strada? Raccontaci il tuo percorso artistico.

Tutto è iniziato nel settembre del 2007 quando, un direttore coraggioso come Marco Valle del Museo E. Caffi di Bergamo, dopo aver visto un mio progetto ancora allo stato embrionale, decise di dedicarmi un’intera mostra: “Mare Nero”. Quel numero esiguo di opere – appena sette – ha rappresentato la mia prima uscita pubblica. Da quell’esordio piuttosto fortunato, partì un tam-tam che coinvolse molti altri musei. In questi giorni le mie “Constatazioni”, così le chiamo e non denunce in quanto situazioni da sempre sotto gli occhi di tutti, sono esposte in molti musei e sedi Istituzionali. Sono riuscite ad incuriosire ed infine ad approdare al primo museo d’Arte che mi ha accolto nella Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Genova, diretta da Maria Flora Giubilei con la quale è nata un’idea sicuramente bizzarra: quella di “inquinare” il museo abbinando opere dissacranti, quali le mie, ai capolavori dell’esposizione. Un azzardo che porterà alla realizzazione di un intero catalogo sommato ad una proroga di altri tre mesi e a una pagina su “Da Genova per Genova”, un libro di Andrea Ranieri, assessore alla cultura del capoluogo ligure. Una grande soddisfazione. Dalla creazione di opere che additavano in modo inequivocabile i disastri provocati dall’ uomo, all’utilizzo di materiale organico di scarto dell’edibile il passo è stato breve, quello cioè di Nobilitare con il suo scarto uno degli alimenti primari che nutre da sempre il Mondo: il pesce.

Il tuo atelier è molto diverso da un atelier di un pittore ed è quasi alla pari di un laboratorio alchemico o una sala operatoria: hai voglia di scoprire il velo di mistero e descriverlo al nostro pubblico? Che strumenti e materiali utilizzi, quali tecniche…

Il mio studio è il magazzino che serviva per l’importazione, la lavorazione e la distribuzione del pesce, è cioè un ex magazzino frigorifero ora ribattezzato Museo Menotrenta, le sale espositive sono le ex celle frigorifere, gli ex laboratori sono il mio studio, gli uffici sono in parte accoglienza ma soprattutto un condensato di progetti passati, futuri o mai conclusi. La nuova ricerca sviluppata verso il 2014 con l’utilizzo di inchiostri e pelli di cefalopodi trattati per la conservazione e mantenimento del colore naturale della livrea, grazie ad un metodo da me brevettato, e manipolati con aghi d’ acciaio e bisturi chirurgici, porta a trasformare la materia per scoprirne bellezza e trasparenza. Questo nuovo studio dona nuova vita allo scarto organico che considera l’anello di congiunzione e ricordo indelebile del prodotto che ha nutrito l’Essere Umano. “Dall’edibile che nutre il corpo, all’arte che nutre lo spirito”. La pittura materica diventa il più forte impulso per la ricerca del colore naturale, che diventerà l’unico colore utilizzato, regolato dalla manipolazione dei cromatofori esistenti nel prodotto, senza aggiunte di colori artificiali. Con il progetto Abissi, indaga il noto e l’ignoto e i percorsi tortuosi del pensiero umano. Scopre ed evidenzia le ferite e le escrescenze della pelle lacerata che diventano abissi e meandri dove il pensiero si perde e si rigenera, svelando i patimenti che ho subito durante il mio percorso di vita, che definisco la mia Via Crucis.

Nel 2010 hai avuto l’occasione di presenziare all’Affordable Art Fair di Amsterdam e all’Open Art Fair di Utrecht: come ti sei trovato all’epoca e come speri sia l’Olanda nel 2021?

È stata per me un’esperienza unica, dovuta anche al fatto che ho lavorato per più di 40 anni con l’Olanda: dai porti di Urk, Volendam, Harlinger, Jimuiden, importavo il pesce olandese per le scuole, la platessa. Quando venni, portai un progetto che rappresentava la storia dell’Olanda legata alla pesca, raccontatami dai pescatori e produttori locali, e della incredibile e straordinaria combinazione. Uno Stato piccolo come una nostra Regione possiede un prodotto, la platessa, che è conosciuto e apprezzato in tutto il Mondo, ed un’altra combinazione che lega la morfologia di quel pesce all’Olanda, (ma questa la svelerò soltanto nel momento in cui una Istituzione Pubblica Olandese mi inviterà a fare una mostra in Olanda). Da lì la mia ricerca è partita e la prima mostra con questi materiali è stata fatta proprio in Olanda, tutte le opere erano fatte con pelle di platessa, reti da pesca storiche, casse di legno anni 60 ormai desuete. Fu un gran successo e mi venne dedicato anche un articolo su un giornale locale con la foto di un’opera (Het Urkerland).

Quali sono i tuoi progetti futuri per i prossimi mesi? Su cosa stai lavorando?

Progetti futuri ne ho molti, sia a livello di nuove ricerche che sto conducendo sia per mostre che stiamo preparando. Ci sono molti eventi già programmati che sono slittati causa Covid 19, sono finalista in due concorsi importanti, sto preparando una mostra personale che avrà un importante luogo Istituzionale e che sarà sostenuta da un Museo dove donerò delle opere che saranno vendute a favore di una associazione che si occupa di lotta contro i tumori, come già fatto in passato, e che saranno la mia principale prerogativa per il futuro (una promessa che ho fatto a mia moglie prima che volasse via). Sarò poi presente ad alcuni appuntamenti importanti sia in Italia che all’ Estero già programmati.

Qual è il fine ultimo della personalissima ed innovativa Arte Concettuale di Gianni Depaoli? Non hai paura che solo una stretta nicchia di amanti dell’Arte possa comprendere il messaggio profondo che le tue opere trasmettono?

Osservare la realtà e plasmarla affinché le persone ne fruiscano e ne prendano consapevolezza, estrapolando il mio intimo, i miei patimenti ma anche le fruizioni giornaliere della bellezza che ci dona la natura. Nei miei lavori compaiono visi, silhouette a volte palesemente svelati a volte velatamente nascosti che sanciscono il mio rapporto con l’ignoto e la ricerca della leggerezza dell’essere. Inquietudine, angoscia, timore, sono rappresentate da lacerazioni, abissi e meandri che feriscono la pelle, esorcizzate però dalla trasparente bellezza delle forme e dei colori naturali. Mi ha sempre interessato il far affiorare il “particolare”, immaginare il backstage della vita, scoprire la costruzione celata più che godere del risultato finale. È il particolare che differenzia e ci rende unici, la nostra firma indelebile e riconoscibile. No, non mi preoccupa anzi mi affascina, quando si supera il confine per un processo sperimentale si sa già che si incontreranno delle difficoltà, difficoltà che hanno incontrato anche i grandi maestri, Burri, Arman, Penone, Pistoletto per citarne alcuni e ora vediamo dove sono arrivati. Ora il popolo dell’arte è preparato a questi nuovi processi, cercano loro stessi nuove produzioni che possano stupirli. Fortunatamente ho sempre incontrato collezionisti che volevano investire su qualcosa di innovativo ed inusuale e Musei che intendevano presentare qualcosa di particolare, per ciò che riguarda il materiale, la sua manipolazione, ma che allo stesso tempo esprimesse dei concetti molto forti.

  • Gianni Depaoli, From Emotion to Reason, mixed media on fibre, leather and squid ink, methacrylate, 2020, 154x40x3 cm. “…giacché, quando s’è per la strada della passione, è naturale che i più ciechi guidino”(“…for when one is on the road of passion, it is natural that the most blind should lead”): citation taken from the historical essay Storia della Colonna Infame by Alessandro Manzoni, included as an Appendix in the tenth edition of the historical novel I Promessi Sposi of 1840. This quote is emblematic of the historical period we are living in and highlights decisions made irrationally under the emotional pull of the moment.
  • Detail
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  • Gianni Depaoli, VentiVenti (2020), mixed media on fibre, leather and squid ink, methacrylate, 2020, 154x40x3 cm. At the top, the inscription “Duemilaventi” (two thousand and twenty) is continuously repeated along the entire length of the work to remind us who escaped from Covid-19 and who did not.
  • Detail
  • Gianni Depaoli, Everybody against everybody, mixed media on fibre, leather and squid ink, methacrylate, 2021, 154x40x3 cm. From the 2016 song ‘Tutti contro tutti’ by the musical group Stadio to highlight the confusion of the people stirred by the words.
  • Detail with italian song: “Non mi fido di te-che così bene chiacchieri-perché hai già dimostrato-che non ti fai scrupoli.-E non mi fido di me,-perché per difendermi-ho dovuto imparare-anche ad assomigliarti.-È una guerra ogni giorno,-ogni istante che ti volti,-qualcuno cerca di fotterti,-non ci sono più regole-la parola d’ordine è-tutti contro tutti.-Non c’è più vergogna,-hai le spalle al muro,-non vince il più bravo,-ma il più furbo di sicuro.-Non fidarti di me-non sono quello che credi;-io parlo male di te-quando tu non mi vedi;-Con le tue strategie-ottieni quello che vuoi-ma con me non funziona,-lo so che gioco fai-È una guerra ogni giorno,-ogni istante che ti volti,-qualcuno cerca di fotterti,-non ci sono più regole-la parola d’ordine è-tutti contro tutti,-Bisognerebbe scoppiasse-una rivoluzione,-o che almeno tornasse-la buona educazione”.
  • Detail. English translation of the song: “I don’t trust you-who talks so well-because you have already proved-That you have no scruples-And I don’t trust me,-because to defend myself-I had to learn-even to look like you.-It’s a war every day,-every moment you turn around,-someone is trying to fuck you up,-There are no rules anymore-The password is-Everyone against everyone.-There’s no more shame-Your back’s against the wall-It’s not the best who wins,-The smartest guy wins.-Don’t trust me-I’m not what you think I am-I speak ill of you-when you don’t see me; With your strategies-You get what you want-But it doesn’t work with me,-I know what your game is-It’s a war every day-Every moment that you turn around-Someone’s trying to fuck you up-There are no rules anymore-The password is-Everyone against everyone,-There should be-A revolution-or at least a return-good manners”.
  • Detail
  • Gianni Depaoli, Solo, Mixed media on fibre, leather and squid ink, methacrylate, 2020, 154x40x3 cm. From Pope Francis’ invocation against the pandemic (27 March 2020) in a deserted St Peter’s Square: “…in silenzio assordante e di vuoto desolante. Ci siamo trovati soli e impauriti. Ci siamo resi conto di trovarci sulla stessa barca fragili e disorientati allo stesso tempo…”(“…in deafening silence and desolating emptiness. We found ourselves alone and afraid. We realised that we were in the same boat, fragile and disoriented at the same time…”).
  • Detail.
  • Gianni Depaoli, Expelled, mixed media on leather fibre and methacrylate squid ink, 2021, 154x40x3 cm. Bible, from the Book of Genesis III, 1-24: the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.
  • Detail. Gianni Depaoli, Expelled, mixed media on leather fibre and methacrylate squid ink, 2021, 154x40x3 cm.

Con immensa gratitudine, ringrazio Gianni Depaoli per la sua disponibilità. Ricordo ai lettori che potranno leggere e vedere altri video sulla pagina dedicata all’artista su criticoarte.org: Gianni Depaoli – Italian art by ELisa Manzoni (criticoarte.org)