ALWAYS PAINTING Castigliano - Inglese: Lucille Banham

 

  Always painting, without adjectives. For example, that practiced by Rosario (or Saro) Arizza in his native Sicily.

  I met this Italian painter in Syracuse in 1991, on the first of my two trips to this island, made for the ÒIncontri fra arte e pensieroÓ exhibition organised by our Academy in Rome. In 2000, on my second trip to the island, I stopped over in Avola, where Arizza was born (56 years ago) and lives. Thanks to our friend in common, Joan Abell—, a tireless Sicilian spiritual ambassador, I receive news from time to time about the development of ArizzaÕs pictorial work, which was brought to Barcelona in 2004 by the Reus critic and exhibited in the Centre C’vic Convent de Sant Agust’. Now, at the end of this summer of 2006, I write these lines for the catalogue of ArizzaÕs next solo exhibition, which will open this Autumn in Palermo.

  Arizza, who trained in the Istituto dÕArte di Siracusa, in the capital of his native province, works within the perspective of abstract painting. He identifies with the informal - his exhibition in the Palazzo Modica of his home town in 2003 was called Tenzione informale - and with the lyrical. Like some of the main Spanish painters of his generation, which is also my generation, reflection on the achievements of the previous generation - that of the fifties and of abstract expressionism, which reached its peaked when we were children - has been important to him. In Spain, a path led from Antoni Tˆpies to JosŽ Manuel Broto, from JosŽ Guerrero to Miguel çngel Campano, from Antonio Saura and his Òpainting as a battlefieldÓ to Manolo Quejido. In Italy, where the ÒinformaleÓ was as much of a success as it was in Spain, the main references would be Emilio Vedova (who was incidentally, a great friend of the El Paso group); Alberto Burri; Antonio Corpora; and in other aspects, Lucio Fontana. Apart from that, it is clear that neither Arizza, nor any other current self-respecting painter from any latitude, would wish to confine their influences to the narrow limits of Òthe nationalÓ. Art and nationalism usually do not get along, despite the fact that some national touch or other is sometimes of great interest in painting or in poetry. Reviews about Arizza have mentioned the precedent of Vedova and other Italians of that generation. However, they have also referred to: Tˆpies; the New-Yorkized Dutchman Willem de Kooning and his peer Jackson Pollock; the Portuguese Vieira da Silva; the American writer-painter William S. Burroughs; and the American - and Italian by adoption  - Cy Twombly. For my part, some of his work makes me think of Robert Motherwell, another figure who was a bridge between the USA and Europe.

  Arizza, whose aesthetic project falls within the perspective of what some Italian critics have graphically called Òil terzo informaleÓ, has been totally focussed for many years on painting. His studio is, Saura-esquely, his battlefield. Colour is the main protagonist in his paintings. He gives himself over to a melody in reds, pinks, duns, blues, mauves, greens, yellows, whites. From Pollock, a name that should be mentioned in relation to Arizza, he reintroduces the gesture, the dance, the concept of dripping, and what this contributes in terms of chance and indetermination. His painting transmits a lyrical sentiment about the world: the melancholy of time passing; vague, fleeting impressions of the surrounding life; a certain sentiment of landscape; the skies that we have lost... In more than one part of his work it can be seen that he also takes on the idea of collage; the use of found materials, which are usually humble (paper, cardboard); and a certain demotic sense of the object. All of which was the conquest of the first avant-garde, but which years later, in the framework of the second avant-garde, Motherwell or Tˆpies - to cite just two admired creators, who have already been mentioned above - knew how to reintroduced in an exemplary way.

  A new interpretation of informalism, gesture, collage, humble and found materials. With all of this, with these Òfragments of a rich heritageÓ that has been formed in the Òtradition of modernityÓ, to use Francesco Gallo pertinent words, Arizza produces beautiful, powerful, full images in which violence, paradoxically, becomes classical. 

  In his larger format paintings, which are solemn, austere and essential, Arizza proclaims his unmistakable, monumental and we could almost say epic will, his desire to create a painting that completely envelops the viewer. This is in line with the new canon, the new tradition, the new physical space proposed by the great Americans of the forties and fifties: both those who worked with action, with gesture, which as mentioned, is clearly connected to the work of Arizza; and those who worked from the perspective, which deep down is not so distant from the preceding idea, of the sublime, the timeless and meditation. 

  Now in the Castilian countryside, I have just finished writing these lines which I began in Madrid about the Sicilian painter Arizza. The last - now penultimate - exhibition of his work, held this year in the Museo di Storia Naturale de Melilli, also in the province of Syracuse, was called I viaggi dellÕanima. This title inevitably reminds me of the work of the Spaniard Miguel de Unamuno, which I have cited so many times when writing about painting: Paisajes del alma. A mental journey now, mine, through my memory. I remember certain Sicilian places that friends from that island, such as Arizza and Salvatore Ferlito, or adopted islanders such as Joan Abell— have taught me to love: Syracuse and the very literary eighteenth century mansion of a Scandinavian woman where the exhibition that was the reason for my first visit was held; the Ortigia peninsula and its Via Labirinto, its cathedral and the pier for the Maltese boats; the gigantic Roman quarries; Catania barely in view and Etna always in the background; the baroque and metaphysical Noto, seen at night - Gallo, again, emphasizes how important the baroque universe is for Arizza; and, of course, Avola, where, inspired by an extremely warm atmosphere, I dared to give a talk... in Italian...

  Violence that, paradoxically, becomes classical, I wrote a few lines ago... There must be some relation between this secular and fabulous region, one of the cradles of the European civilization, and the modern work of Rosario Arizzo, absorbed in the reign of painting, in its colours in expansion, in its highly abstract dream.    

                                                                          JUAN MANUEL BONET

 

Juan Manuel Bonet Planes (Paris, 1953)

Writer and art critic. Member of the AICA (International Association of Art Critics).

He has been given several awards, such as: the Medal of the Republic (Poland); the Officier des Arts et des Lettres (France); the Medalla Victoria Ocampo (Argentina); and the Placa de la Orden de Alfonso X el Sabio (Spain).

Between 1995 and 2000 he ran IVAM (Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno). He was director of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sof’a, Madrid (MNCARS) from 2000 to 2004. He is the advisor for the BancaixaÕs collection of European painting.

He has contributed regularly to: the daily newspapers El Correo de Andaluc’a, El Pa’s, Pueblo, Diario 16 and ABC (and to its weekend supplement Blanco y Negro); the weeklies La Calle and Hechos del Mundo; and to the TVE programme Tiempos Modernos. He currently writes for the ABC newspaper.

He has collaborated with the Museo de Arte Abstracto Espa–ol de Cuenca. He has been a member of: the purchasing committee of the Museo Cantini, Marsella; the advisory board of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao; the Fundaci—n Juan MarchÕs advisory committee; the advisory board of the Centro Atl‡ntico de Arte Moderno (CAAM), las Palmas de Gran Canaria; and the board of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sof’a. He is currently a member of the board of: the Fundaci—n D’az-Caneja, Palencia; the Fundaci—n Luis Seoane, La Coru–a; the Fundaci—n Rafael Alberti, Puerto de Santa Mar’a; and the Fundaci—n Estudio, Madrid. He is also a member of the advisory committee of IODACC, Santa Cruz de Tenerife; a representative of the Fundaci—n Carlos de Amberes; and a board member for CISAM (Centro Internazionale Studi sulle Avanguarde Moderne), Bergamo. He is the director of the International Board of the Fundaci—n Vicente Huidobro, Santiago de Chile, and the chairman of the board of the Fundaci—n Archivo Rafael Cansinos-Assens, Madrid.

He is the author of: numerous studies on contemporary art; Diccionario de las vanguardias en Espa–a (1907-1936) (Dictionary of the avant-garde in Spain [1907-1936]); a guide book for the Museo de Arte Abstracto Espa–ol de Cuenca; a guide book for the Colecci—n March, Palma de Mallorca; monographs on Juan Gris, Gerardo Rueda, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Edvard Munch, Ram—n Gaya; a book on Ram—n G—mez de la Serna (Ram—n en su torre—n) (Ramon in his tower) and the respective volumes of conversations with Bernard Plossu and Lu’s Palmero. He is coauthor of a catalogue raisonnŽ on Manolo Millares.

He has published: three books of poems La patria oscura (The dark homeland) (1983), CafŽ des exilŽs (Cafe of exiles) (1990) and Praga (Prague) (1994); a diary La ronda de los d’as (The round of days) (1990), which was also published in French in 1994 with a prologue by Octavio Paz. He recently published a pamphlet of poems titled Postales (Postcards) (2004). His anthology Espera en Wilanow y otros versos polacos (Waiting in Wilanow and other Polish poems) is in press, and he is preparing a collection of his poems under the title Via Labirinto. Some of his poems have been translated into Swedish by Lasse Sšderberg: Seis poemas cerilla / Sex TŠndstickdikter (Six match poems) (2004).

In addition, he is author of the collectorÕs books: Playa sin luz (Beach without light) (1981), which has an original drawing by Pablo Sycet; Ilusi—n (Illusion) (1981), with drypoints by Manolo Quejido; Ultima Europa (Last Europe) (1990), with drypoints by Dis Berlin; Carta desde mi Sainte Victoire (Letter from my Sainte Victoire) (1993), with drawings by Miguel Rasero; Luces lejos (Distant lights) (1994), with drawings by Enrique Vega; Plaza del Arbol (Plaza of the tree) (2000), with etchings by Manuel Rey Fueyo; Sevilla en la memoria (Seville in memory) (2004), with etchings by Fernando Verdugo; and Prosas para un viejo ne—n (Prose for an old neon) (2006), with photographs by Lu’s PŽrez M’nguez.

He has published critical editions of El Movimiento V.P. (the V.P. movement) by Rafael Cansinos-Assens; Galer’a de espejos (Gallery of mirrors) and Hotel del Universo (Universe hotel) by Rafael Lasso de la Vega, he also edited Poes’a completa (Complete poetry) for this author; the works of Saulo Tor—n; En busca del Bar—n Corvo (In search of Baron Corvo) by A.J.A. Symons; one of the volumes of Obras Completas (Complete works) by Salvador Dal’; Memorias de infancia y juventud (Memories of Childhood and Youth) by Manolo Millares; and the Zaragozan magazine Noroeste (Northwest).

With AndrŽs Trapiello, he codirected the collection of poetry "Entregas de la aventura" (Adventure instalments) and directed the poetry and engraving magazine Estaci—n Central and the collection of books with the same title. He has been a member of the editing committees of the magazines: Arte/Facto, Diwan, Nœmero, Comercial de la Pintura, Buades, El Europeo y Cyan.

Among the courses that he has run are: El dibujo en la pintura del XX (Drawing and XX century painting) (Baeza, 1983); Arte y Literatura: encuentros y desencuentros (Art and literature, encounters and estrangements) (Cuenca, 1988); Posibilidades de la pintura (The possibilities of painting) (Cuenca, 1989); El cr’tico como artista (The critic as artist) (San Sebasti‡n, 1993); Solitarios del arte (Recluses of art) (Madrid, 1995); La tradici—n figurativa (The figurative tradition) (San Sebasti‡n, 1995); Max Aub y las vanguardias (Max Aub and the avant-gardes) (Segorbe, 1999); El arte espa–ol en el mundo (Spanish art in the world) (Santander, 2002); and Mapa de las vanguardias latinoamericanas (1910-1950) (Map of the Latin American avant-gardes [1910-1950]) (Madrid, 2003).

Among the many exhibitions that he has organised are: 1980 (Galer’a Juana Mord—, Madrid, 1979 and then Murcia and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria); Madrid D.F. (Museo Municipal, Madrid, 1980); Ram—n (Museo Municipal, Madrid, 1980); Imprenta y poes’a (Printing and poetry) (Escuela de Artes y Oficios, Granada, 1981); Pintura contempor‡nea espa–ola (Spanish contemporary art) (travelling exhibition in central Europe for the foreign office, 1984-1985); Naufragios (Shipwrecks) (Bienal de Valpara’so, 1985 and the Fundaci—n Evaristo Valle, Gij—n, 1986); Espagne arte abstracto 1950-1965 (Spain: abstract art 1950-1965) (Artcurial, Paris, 1989); El surrealismo entre Viejo y Nuevo Mundo (Surrealism in the old and new world) (CAAM, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 1989 and Fundaci—n Mapfre Vida, Madrid, 1990); El objeto surrealista en Espa–a (The surrealist object in Spain) (Museo de Teruel, 1990 and Fundaci— La Caixa, Barcelona 1991); 23 artistas Madrid a–os 70 (23 artists: Madrid in the seventies) (Salas de la Comunidad de Madrid, 1991); Espagne 23 artistes pour lÕan 2000 (Spain: 23 artists for the year 2000) (Artcurial, Paris, 1992); Escultura espa–ola en peque–o formato (Spanish sculpture in small format) (Cuatrienal de Escultura, Fellbach; Wilhelm Lembruck Museum, Duisburg, 1992; and the Iglesia de San Domingos de Donaval, Santiago de Compostela, 1993); Ciudad de ceniza (City of Ash) (Museo de Teruel, 1992); Sue–os geomŽtricos (Geometric dreams) (Arteleku, San Sebasti‡n and the Galer’a Elba Benitez, Madrid, 1993); Los a–os pintados (The painted years) (Palacio de S‡stago, Zaragoza, 1994 and Atarazanas, Barcelona, 1995); El poeta como artista (The poet as artist) (CAAM, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 1995); Silenciosos (The silent ones) (Arteleku, San Sebasti‡n, 1995); A la pintura (To painting) (travelling exhibition, 1995); El ultra’smo y las artes pl‡sticas (Ultraism and the plastic arts) (IVAM, Valencia; Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago de Chile; Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, 1996); De Picasso a Dal’. Las raices de la vanguardia Espa–ola (From Picasso to Dal’. The roots of the Spanish avant-garde) (Museo du Chiado, Lisbon Expo 98, exhibition created for the Spanish pavilion); Arte y literatura modernos en la biblioteca de Max Aub (Modern art and literature in Max AubÕs library) (Fundaci—n Max Aub, Segorbe, 1999); Literatura argentina de vanguardia (Argentinean avant-garde literature) (Casa de AmŽrica, Madrid; Fundaci—n Picasso, Malaga and MEIAC, Badajoz, 2001); Los ismos de Ram—n G—mez de la Serna y un apŽndice circense (The ÒismsÓ of Ram—n G—mez de la Serna and a circus appendix) (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sof’a, Madrid, 2002); Entre el clavel y la espada: Rafael Alberti en su siglo (Between carnation and the sword:Rafael Alberti in his century) (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sof’a, Madrid and Centro Andaluz de Arte Contempor‡neo, Seville, 2003); Museo de museos (Museum of museums) (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sof’a, 2003); Espa–a a–os 50 (Spain in the fifties) (Museo Municipal, Malaga, Mucsarnšk, Budapest and the Narodni Galerie, Prague, 2004); Un paseo por la vanguardia espa–ola: Instant‡nea de Ram—n G—mez de la Serna (Passage through the Spanish avant-garde: a snapshot of Ram—n G—mez de la Serna) (Museo Hist—rico de la Ciudad, Rosario, 2004); and Caneja, sus contempor‡neos, sus amigos, su estela (Caneja, his contemporaries, his friends, his wake) (Fundaci—n D’az Caneja, Palencia, 2005 and Museo de la Pasi—n, Valladolid, 2006).

He has organised, among others, retrospectives on: Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo (Mercado Puerta de Toledo, Madrid, 1988); Lucio Mu–oz (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sof’a, Madrid 1988; the Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, 1989 and then travelling exhibition); Henryk Stazewski (CAAM, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 1990); Francisco Bores (travelling exhibition, 1990); Eugenio Fern‡ndez Granell (Museo de Teruel, 1990); Manolo Millares (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sof’a, Madrid and CAAM, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 1992); Alex Katz (IVAM, Valencia 1996); Bernard Plossu (IVAM, Valencia, 1997); Helmut Federle (IVAM, Valencia 1998); JosŽ Jorge Oramas (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sof’a, 2003); Esteban Vicente (Museo de Arte Contempor‡neo Esteban Vicente, Segovia, 2003); Neo Rauch (Centro de Arte Contempor‡neo, Malaga, 2005); Xesœs V‡zquez (CGAC, Santiago de Compostela, 2005); Ram—n Gaya (Fundaci— Caixa Catalunya, Barcelona, 2006) and Henri Michaux (C’rculo de Bellas Artes, Madrid, 2006).