Today we are very happy to have as our guest blogger Nicola Mariani. Nicola is a sociologist and independent critic of art, Head of Content of the online art gallery Durán Online Gallery. He is one of the official bloggers of the Museo Vivanco Cultura de Vino  and collaborates with the Madriz magazine, Instituto de Cultura de la Fundación Mapfre blog`s and  Art Market Agency blog.

In 2009 he founded his personal blog www.nicolamariani.es, devoted to contemporary art, with special interest in the emerging art and the exhibition panorama of the city of Madrid as well as collaborated with many specialized magazines and online publishing projects.

We have asked him to choose 4 artworks of Kreislerart.com and these are his proposals;

1/ STILL LIFE BALI II, 2016 Caprile, Pasquale

https://www.kreislerart.com/products/still-life-bali/

I selected this work because I love photography. This analogue piece, in particular, caught my eye for his great ability to evoke poetry. The subject (still life) and its timeless and aesthetically minimalistic (almost metaphysical) way of approaching it, made me see in it a very close relationship with the traditional figurative paintings, especially with the work of Giorgio Morandi, one of he most influential artists of the 20th century.

ESPAÑA, Motherwell, Robert

https://www.kreislerart.com/products/espana/

I always liked the American painting movement of Abstract Expressionism. In my opinion this piece of Motherwell – one of the greatest members of the “Color Field” style – sums pretty well some hallmarks of his work, such as the use of plain colors (especially black) and the painting technique of “Automatism” related to the spirit of Surrealism (in this case, we can see also a reference to the Pollock’s “dripping”).

SERIE LOS VIAJES, Equipo Crónica

https://www.kreislerart.com/products/serie-los-viajes-2/

Another artistic movement of the 20th century that I always liked is Equipo Crónica. I have selected this serigraph for its ability to engender uncertainties and raise doubts in the viewer. In this work that references to modernity and pop imagery have been mixed with an ironic criticism, leaving the work open to many different interpretations of the contemporary society.

CHILLIDA, EDUARDO SIN TITULO

https://www.kreislerart.com/products/sin-titulo-52/

Chillida’s work fascinates me, especially his huge ability of abstract creative language to experiment with any kind of material, always in a credible and exciting way. His monumental iron, steel or alabaster sculptures and his delicate works on paper achieve an impressive expressive force. And this print I selected is a clear example of this.

 

In addition, we asked him the following questions in order to know better his artistic choices. These were his answers;

Which is your favorite Museum?

The truth is that it would be impossible to tell you a single name as many occur to me. There are so many, such as the Museo del Prado and the Lázaro Galdiano in Madrid or the Galleria Nazionale in my hometown – Perugia, Umbria – where I tried to come back whenever I can. I am Italian, so I could not stop mentioning the Uffizi in Florence, the Musei Capitolini in Rome or the Pinacoteca di Brera of Milan. There is a magical place, near Perugia, which is the small town of Città di Castello. There are three fabulous museums devoted to the Umbrian artist Alberto Burri. I recommend everyone that visits the Centre of Italy and to not miss it. Finally, I would like to dedicate a special mention to another gem that exists in Spain: the Museo Vostell Malpartida at Malpartida de Cáceres.

Which is the picture/photo/sculpture that you like the most at your home?

It is actually two pieces: two landscapes painted in oil, in the 1960s, by Manlio Bacosi (Perugia 1921-1998). Bacosi is an Umbrian painter who was a student of, among others, Gerardo Dottori, the Futurist painter. He Bacosi is a great artist, I love his work. Both paintings I mentioned are part of a legacy of a very dear person. In this sense, this two works have a big emotional value for me besides being two magnificent works.

With witch artist living or dead do you identify the most?

An artist for which I have a genuine devotion is the before mentioned Alberto Burri. His Poetics of matter and its plastic drama touch me very deeply. His creative language is very close to me, it seems that he speaks with an ancestral artistic language I’ve ever known. Maybe this has something to do with the fact that he comes from the same region (Umbria) as I do, so also from the same historical, natural and cultural background.

 

Grazie Nicola!!

 

 

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