Berlin.- The Berlin leg of artist Francesco Visalli’s international tour and his personal “alternative reality” will be hosted in Palazzo Italia from 24th June to 9th July. Occupying such a prestigious space is even more important considering the fact that the show will take place during the Berlin Fashion Week: it will be an event within an event. So, like the clothing on the catwalks of Berlin, the show will feature a succession of paintings, colours, shapes, materials and thoughts. The artist’s entire portfolio will be on display in this one-man show, organised by P. Charlotte Stein Infantellina from Infantellina Contemporary, Berlins’ first and only gallery dedicated to contemporary Italian art.
Francesco Visalli was born in 1960, the son of a postal worker and a teacher. He grew up in one of the poorest and most notorious areas of Rome, the “Borghetto Prenestino”, made infamous by Pier Paolo Pasolini”s “Ragazzi di Vita”. His father died when he was 14 years old, an event which deeply affected his life. After a troubled childhood and a spell in Los Angeles, Visalli returned to Rome, and created a number of sucessful design companies. However, in his 40’s he became seriously disillusioned, lost his faith, saw everything fall apart and left his wife and family. He finally threw in the towel and closed everything down, spending his time doing nothing: he was now 50 years old and had lived more than enough; what was the point of continuing, if everything was finished? This was his darkest hour.
On the night of 11 October, 2009, however, everything changed once more. Francesco picked up a pen and began to draw things he had never seen before. He spent the entire night drawing, continuing the next day, the following night and so on, for days on end. Francesco”s hand, as if guided by something divine, was rapidly moving around the white sheet of paper of its own joyful accord, producing fantastic drawings. Colours burst out and unusual shapes came to life from his hands. After a few weeks, the drawings became paintings.
Although he had no knowledge of painting technique, he acquired it by working, finding within himself a style that already had its own very precise expressions and definition, which was his style. Each painting is a new discovery, and he deliberately keeps no records, does not study, has no desire to learn from others and does not look at the great masters, in order not to be conditioned by those that have preceded him. Visalli works like an erupting volcano, continuously drawing and painting whatever his instincts tell him. He passes through the classic creative phases, first producing the drawing and then choosing and applying the colours, without letting himself be encumbered by thought and without any mediation, almost as if in a trance. His paintings bring to light his past and future life, without his involvement, like a flurry of pangs and torments viewed through the wrong end of a pair of binoculars, always moving a bit further beyond the heart, in an “Alternative Reality”.
The Palazzo Italia – the former Hotel de Rome, one of the most luxurious hotels in the German capital – is situated at the heart of Berlin, a stone’s throw from the famous Brandenburg Gate. Constructed in 1865, the building has been completely renovated to restore its original splendor. Today, the Fiera Milano uses the building as one of the most glamorous locations for hospitality and event hosting in the city. Spectacularly situated in the centre of the metropolis, the Palazzo Italia is the ideal place for encounters as well as social and commercial happenings that choose to make a distinct and lasting impression.
Infantellina Contemporary opened on October 18th, 2008 and is located at Gendarmenmarkt, the elegant district in the heart of Berlin. The gallery’s aim is to bring a warm South-European sunray into Berlin’s art scene. I-C ist the first one and only Berlin gallery featuring 100% Italian contemporary art. In its comprehensive and selective exhibition program, they offer to an international audience, a selection of artworks by young established artists as well as new up and coming talents, active in different media, with an eye for experimentation. Infantellina Contemporary is a gallery born from the requirement of the owner, P. Charlotte Stein-Infantellina, of having a real exposition space, creating a platform to carry foreward a positive message, through the choice of the artists and the selection of the works, stimulating the active interaction with collectors, attaché’s to the activities, institutions and artists also. Visit the gallery’s website at … http://www.infantellina-contemporary.com