The drawings collected in the Skira volume are a sort of personal diary of his last 50 years
Skira has just published “Marcello Pietrantoni. Corpo e Mondo”(text by Franco Torriani and Rosa Fasan - €75.00). This volume is as courageous as it is powerful since it deals exclusively with drawings. Over 250 pages for a colossal format: 40x30 cm.
Why did you dedicate yourself to such an ambitious undertaking in such an uncertain period?
At my age you might think I want to exorcise death. In reality there is also boredom.
"Drawing is like talking to myself"
Surely you cannot get bored by browsing the over 200 drawings published.
And to think that I have chosen them from over 700.
And where did he keep them?
I kept them in drawers where I never looked. I draw a lot: it’s like talking to myself, more or less like musicians who pick up their instrument as soon as they can.
And what conclusions did you come to?
The conclusions are never there: Panta Rei.
And what do they represent to you?
Consciousness can be the theater of the mind; in my case perhaps it is true because I feel far from contemplation.
"Beauty is beautiful, art is disturbing"
Some might argue that these figures are not beautiful, accurate or serene, but rather twisted, suffering and gruesome.
Beauty is beautiful, art is disturbing.
You usually understand a lot from another artist’s favorite artists. What are yours?
Piero della Francesca and Alberto Burri. The first with his solidity and severity of line is as if he had sculpted the painting. The second sculpted the material transforming it into painting. So, from this point of view, they are both sculptors.
And among the contemporary ones?
I’m not a contemporary artist, I’m a classical artist.
One last question: how would you like your work to be interpreted?
I detest pride but when people judge my work, I only listen to the people I respect.
