Banner  Giampaolo Talani “Anime” in Lucca

                              

“Amanda” by Beatrice Brandini

The opportunity to talk about this contemporary artist is a good show in Lucca at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca: Anime (open until 26 January).

    

“The Annunciation” oil on wood, works in the exhibition 

I first thank Dr. Anna Benedetto care that the public relation of the Foundation, kindness and availability.

“A foggy day” oil on canvas, work in exhibition 

The exhibition highlights with sensitivity and love of nature Talani. Souls are the protagonists of this exhibition, starting Souls, Souls on the road, Souls on the beach, Souls watching us, elusive Souls,  suspended  Souls.

    

    “Three white souls” oil-tempera on canvas            “A strong wind from the sea” oil-tempera on wood, works in the exhibition

“Animals from the shoreline” private collection 

I discovered this artist a decade ago, a small exhibition, precisely at a collective exhibition in San Vincenzo, in which among the many paintings on display, even a certain prestige, it struck me that that depicted two personages, the work of an artist, Talani, at that time unknown to me. I bought it …. and from then on I’ve always followed closely by purchasing his other works, also to understand if that nice feeling and intuition that I immediately had, it was personal or something more.

Installation in Piazza della Signoria, in Florence

“Musicians” G. Talani                        

From the famous exhibition Talani has come a long way, of all the important things I remember the fresco in the station of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, a work that occupies an entire wall and for which, it is said, has received many offers, the most important one from Japan, but the artist, however, has decided to donate to Florence.  The exhibition at the Palazzo Vecchio with the installation of dozens of blue umbrellas in Piazza Signoria, the monumental statue of the sailor in the port of Saint Vincent, with a replica in the design phase, to the Port of Miami in Florida;  the celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the wall Berlin and even pills on Rai Uno television, “Rosa dei Venti”, in which he spoke of art and poetry. He participated in the 54th Venice Biennale.

    

“Departures” fresco in the Station of S.M. Novella, Florence, two details.

Monumental statue of the sailor in the port of San Vincenzo 

I remember some anecdotes, for example, one linked to a show in Fiesole where despite a certain popularity reached, Rai Uno television do a press report, Talani talking and joking with everyone, and in fact, at the request of a dedication from my husband, stopped immediately and made to wait for the television. I saw him in Florence, Palazzo Vecchio, during the inauguration of the exhibition La Rosa dei venti told him it was pretty good and I was one of his collector, I made a joke of a typical humor that feeds on intelligence: “Still not tired of my paintings?”. Genuine and self-deprecating, two aspects that often in the art and the artists are not discounted.

“The wind rose” oil on canvas 

    

      “Seekers of shells,” private collection            “Departures”, private collection 

The protagonists in the work of Talani are travelers and the theme of departure, shoreline animals, musicians, sailors, shadows . Cézanne said “the artist paints the same thing”,  and it is true, we think of Warhol or Morandi, but the artist, repeating his subject, still runs his own research, its own truth. And so it is for Giampaolo Talani. His canvases are made, as well as by subject, by elements “transparent”, absences, such as the sea, the wind, the cries of bathers , and the authenticity of these items are Talani.

“The shadow of the hero” oil on canvas, collection of the Quirinale 

Talani is, however, more than anything else a poet, it is when writing (poems), it is when he paints. His Tuscan, often rough and direct, perhaps conceals this important aspect, but his painting is a constant revelation of his being. He is interested in the human condition, men and women are often the shadows represented as graphic signs on a wall (childish but want and desirable). He paints humanity on the road, as a condition of being, the travel symbol of expectation, a no man’s land, resignation or awareness. The mark of time passing. Finally I want to mention the sea, the sea of his San Vincenzo, that he becomes a narrative and metaphor. The sea of Talani is not solar, not playful and obvious, it is a clean sea, dense, almost metaphysical. Scenery and stage of his stories.

    

  “Travel between white shadows” fresco            “Night of San Lorenzo” oil on canvas, works on exhibition 

The works of Talani are now in important private and public collections (beloved in the U.S.), and has also exhibited in New York, Washington, Paris, Cologne, Berlin, Dusseldorf, New Orleans .

Giampaolo Talani photo Marco Palamidessi

Thanks Talani, we feel a bit “animals shoreline” and we have found with you!

    

“Untitled” drawing, private collection       “The man on the beach” 2005, private collection

Good life to all!

Beatrice