Cristina Iotti e Massimo Barlettani
The Power of Flowers
la silente rivoluzione dei fiori
a cura di Maria Gabriella Damiani
Vernissage 3 maggio ore 18,00
3 – 21 maggio 2023
Orizzonti Arte Contemporanea
Piazzetta Cattedrale, Centro Storico, Ostuni
The second exhibition that will be hosted in the new Project Room by Orizzonti Arte Contemporanea Gallery in Ostuni is The Power of Flowers by Cristina Iotti and Massimo Barlettani. In this two-person show, the artists discuss the importance of returning to the beauty of simplicity, to the listening and the observation of nature, to the painting of a flower, implementing from the genuineness of the gesture that portrays creation… the silent revolution of Flowers.
In front of the artistic production of Massimo Barlettani – Nature lives – a risk is possible, that of stopping at the epiphenomenon, at the persuasive charm of flowers or butterflies and, amiably, feeling full and not going any further. In reality, what we see is only a link with what the artist wants to tell us which then, on balance, is both formally clear and, above all, in terms of content, exemplary (…) Barlettani paints flowers that are simply stylistic elements of a language created to tell the personal world, and between a breath of wind and a flutter of wings, with measure, they offer the occasion and the stimulus for reflection. Barlettani creates beauty, and from this he visually represents some concepts(…) Flowers, short-lived creatures that resist the wind, and symbolize that elegance that only nature is capable of giving. We find in this an exciting respect for a fragile inhabitant of our world who asks for nothing in exchange for what he offers. The artist represents it in its habitat. To accentuate the impression of movement in the wind, he uses metallic pigments that vary the visual impact depending on the light. What is enclosed in these flowers? The answer is extremely evident: life. The beauty is often lacking, but we must not, we cannot give up – there is the power of life, its ephemerality, and there is also a warning to remember that we draw our nourishment, physical and otherwise, from the earth that we inhabit. Like a flower. An intensely spiritual discourse, not religious, if anything ideal…(…)
Extract from Jacopo Chiostri
Otherwise, Cristina Iotti has specialized over the years in the use of coloured pencils and has made drawing her signature style, finding in this technique the expressive method that seems most congenial to her, so much so as to obtain various recognitions, such as national and international prizes.
In recent years she has also approached the world of photography, transferring her poetics into fine art photographic images. Then fascinated by the mid-nineteenth century technique of cyanotype, she began to experiment and explore it, integrating and personalizing her cyanotypes with watercolours and coloured pencils. These are the works that the artist presents for the first time in this exhibition. This is how Cristina Iotti tells the story of her artistic experience with this new technique: «I was immediately fascinated by the cyanotype technique due to the strong poetic value it gives to the images, initially obtained from a current and modern medium such as the digital camera, but the magic lies in the ” return to the past” with which the printing and development of the work on cotton paper is then carried out with completely manual procedures. The cyanotype works are made by starting from negatives obtained from my photographs and exposed to sunlight, or under a UV lamp, thus maintaining all the unpredictability, charm and poetry of ancient things. Each cyanotype is a unique piece. I never reprint the same negative and I almost always intervene manually with pencils, coloured pencils and watercolours, obtaining a final result that lies somewhere between photography and drawing».
Cristina Iotti – Massimo Barlettani
The Power of Flowers
La silente rivoluzione dei fiori
a cura di Maria Gabriella Damiani
Vernissage 3 maggio ore 18,00
3 – 21 maggio 2023
GALLERIA ORIZZONTI ARTE CONTEMPORANEA
Piazzetta Cattedrale (centro storico)
72017 Ostuni (Br)
Tel. 0831.335373 – Cell. 348.8032506
info@orizzontiarte.it – www.orizzontiarte.it
F: Orizzontiartecontemporanea
Communication Manager
Amalia Di Lanno
www.amaliadilanno.com – info@amaliadilanno.com