The Sunny Eye of Libera Gazzoni
Paraphrasing a beautiful thought by Adrienne Monnier, I like to affirm that there are two kinds of painters. There are those who are elected as such by others, and it is for this reason that they are considered “exemplar.” They are led to genius by a set of circumstances that are practically external to their egos.
They are often the greatest artists, but rarely are they the purest and most sensitive.
Others are artists simply for themselves. They live and “sing” like precious stones hidden in the bosom of the earth. One has to search for them if one wants to discover them. Their works possess a sort of halo, and these works never reveal all of themselves completely, so that they can keep on doing so endlessly over time.
Libera Gazzoni belongs to this latter kind of artists. She presents us, from time to time, in the silence of her personal research, with precious gems, whether they be landscapes or portraits - a genre she has recently been dedicating herself to more often.
Poetry, even in figurative art, always stems from the purity and simplicity of personal feelings, and it conveys emotions that are oftentimes difficult to describe, but from which anyone can draw spiritual nourishment.
Libera Gazzoni uses colors just as a poet uses words, and she renders everyday landscapes and portraits of people dear to her with humility, yet with the skills of an artist who knows how to capture details which most people have failed to notice.
I have been fortunate enough to have had the pleasure of observing Libera’s development as an artist over the years, and so I have therefore witnessed how much she has matured both technically and in her subject matter.
It is surprising to note how extremely personal her paintings have become. Having been influenced by the painting movements of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, she gives life to a type of neoimpressionism all her own, which is coupled with her passion for painting en-plein-air. And it is here that one of the elements most dear to the artist comes into play: her love for and close relationship with nature, which she always renders in its absoluteness, and rarely interrupted by the presence of humans. In her landscapes she carves out the essence of natural phenomena. In her portraits she carves into the soul of her subjects, who appear to be smiling or pondering upon something, yet who always appear to be both candid and willing to dialogue with the observer.
Yes, because Libera Gazzoni’s works are never locked up in an unreachable ivory tower. They never fail to communicate with the observer, as if they represent a sort of “go-between” among the artist, the observer and the supernatural. If her eye were not sunny, how else could she otherwise manage to show us her light? If a godly force did not happen to live in her, how could she enchant us with the divine?
With her canvasses this humble but marvelous artist allows us to understand that art is a truth which demands to be pronounced and rendered visible for all to behold. Home page Hotel Ripa Grande Ferrara
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