On the occasion of the Bergamo-Brescia cultural capitals celebrations, two major exhibitions of the master in October at the Cavernago castle and in November at the Bellini Pinacoteca in Sarnico
Angelo Brescianini began the process of reassessment with critical deepening only recently. Now, two of his public exhibitions are scheduled for the celebrations of Brescia-Bergamo Italian capitals of culture 2023. The first one from October 14th at the castle of Cavernago (Bergamo) place, however, were the last exhibition of the artist in life was held, the second one from November 11th to December 3rd at the Pinacoteca Bellini Sarnico.
"THESE ARE MY BRUSHES", HE SAID POINTING AT RIFLES AND GUN
“The return of the Titan,” a title inspired by the modus operandi of the master who, like the youngest of the Kronos titans, was eternally in conflict with time. Beyond the correspondence or opposition between mythological figures, titans, and giants, Brescianini chooses a convulsively conceptual path, elaborating a radical philological novelty. He liked to quote often an aphorism by Picasso: “Inspiration exists, but it must find you already at work.” In fact, when he had to write down ideas, which often came to him at night or in the early hours of the morning, he confessed to me that, in addition to the notebook, he kept at hand aluminum plates and a compressed air gun in the drawer.
A PATH WITH ALMOST ASCETIC IMPLICATIONS ACCOMPANIED BY CONTINUOUS UPHEAVALS
Hence a hyperbolic aesthetic investigation on the value of light, which will become his real hassle. As a result, here the first studies on the speed of transmission of thought appear, no longer the outdated use of the traditional sketch, but the direct, instantaneous passage: a completely new option with which he manages to give aesthetic shape to the works, using unusual tools never used before him. He usually liked to say: “These are my brushes,” pointing to the armored closet containing a real arsenal of guns and rifles. His restless personality was evidently evolving, especially in recent works where an interior monologue of profound formal freedom is impeccable. The artist never wanted to be forced by drifts of currents or schools; for this reason his production is a unique episode in the Italian and international artistic scene.
TO PIN IDEAS HE HANDY KEPT ALUMINUM PLATES AND AIR GUNS
Brescianini proposes an epistemological approach based on his theories: “Our eye perceives things reproducing the transversal mechanism of the patterns that I trace with bullets and that, through the different gauges, create reliefs with recesses and projections similar to the ancient Donatello “stiacciati” until the hypertrophic proliferation of thickness.” The search for rusting, as defined by the projectile protuberances, even in negative/positive, allows him to force the contours of the picture, spreading almost out of the surface. Once, responding to the observations of a collector about the arrangement and poor light emitted in the exhibition hall, he exclaimed: “My sculptures don’t need any more light, it would be enough the flame of a match to extract their gestural value, the effect of communicative vibration and capture the light trapping it.”
His unique technique evolves, therefore, from the sketch conceived and sealed in an instant, thanks to the speed of a bullet. A path, with almost ascetic implications, of continuous upheavals that led him to the invention. The work has also focused on the creation of multiplied art to give the opportunity to younger collectors to own his work with minimal expense. From here, the series of slabs made of plastic material on a specially created prototype, making them even more valuable with the patina (as in the unique pieces) and moreover produced in a very low run of just 65 copies. Finally, the creation of the official archive (archiviobrescianini@gmail.com) is important, aimed at publishing the general catalog.
