ARCADIA
Don’t make Sri Lanka wildlife
a piece of history
paintings by Maurizio Boscheri
Serendipty Arts Cafè - 60, Leyn Baan Street
Galle Fort Sri Lanka
18 december 2011 - 28 february 2012
Art that reminds us of the innocence of life, and the power of the wild,
without it this will be a paradise lost.
Maurzio Boscheri was born in Mezzolombardo (Trento) on May 5th 1955 and now lives in Laghetti di Egna, Bolzano, Italy and in Galle, Sri Lanka. He has dedicated his work to highlight life-threatened wildlife animals by combining the beauty of nature’s conception and his artistic skills. He has been working in the arts for more that 15 years. The artists work has been shown during exhibitions at metro cities all over the world including Paris, Berlin, Munich, Rome, Milano, Firenze, Verona, Torino, Lisbon, New York, Boston, Atlanta ,Dubai and Shanghai. In his home-country Italy he is a recognized artist and represented in the public collection of the Cà la Ghironda, Museo Arte Mderna, Classica e Contemporanea di Bologna.
iinfo@maurizioboscheri.it - www.maurizioboscheri.it www.sriserendipity.com
ARCADIA
… but these are not leopards!
By Orietta Berlanda
“This is not a woman, this is a painting!” This was the sharp answer given by Georges Braque to a woman who made him notice that the female figure he had drawn had an arm shorter than the other.
From a theoretical point of view, one of the most important achievements of the 20th century is the fact that the artistic research became autonomous, not subjected to the pressures of naturalistic rules. This change affected all disciplines, all genres, from abstract to figurative arts. In order to approach Maurizio Boscheri’s works we have to bear in mind this new concept of figuration, which is more intended to give a different meaning to this stylistic choice than to merely represent real data/world.The main aim of his research as a painter is not the simple perception of sight, given that leopards, exotic birds, tropical insects in flourishing environments are to be considered as transfigurations, as projections of the thought.
To observe these works is like looking through a multicoloured kaleidoscope of flora and fauna. While apparently describing reality, Boscheri seems to mean more than what is accessible to the eye. He uses a sort of hyperrealism that reminds us to the idea of the Baroque “wonderful”, meant to amaze in order to teach. The intellectual effort clearly shown by these paintings is to describe the scene at its climax, at that very unique moment to which Goethe said “Stop, you are beautiful”.To go any further would mean to invert the ascendant parabola, that would suddenly take to this abyss. The title of the exhibition itself, “Arcadia”, suggests an almost mythical approach to his works. Boscheri’s work include a number of emotions and technical expedients purposely taken to excess. On the one hand suspense and amazement, on the other exaltation of the colours, flou effects and decorativism.
However, this is the only possible way nature can be seen nowadays. Any scientific documentary about animals seems to carry the omen of a threat. We assist as an impotent audience to the acts of exotic species, aware that we are witnessing what concerns the very last 30- 40 on earth.This is the reason why beyond the brightness of flowers and the variety of animal species Boscheri paints, we can perceive some sort of melancholy (like in Arcadia., 2008, or like in Polonnarua, 2009) and it feels like the famous drypoint “Melancholy 1” by Albrecht Durer is a recurring theme.Boscheri usually prefers static compositions, often tigers lying on trunks (another reminiscence to the angelic figure by Durer who, absent-minded, has its elbow on the knee) or frogs looking at the viewer.
Not interested in any dynamism, Boscheri organises his paintings by accurately placing each element so that it can be observed by the viewer, who can appreciate the many fine details. The very look of the animals towards the viewer, which is often found in the series of felines or of red-eyed frogs (Frogs with pink Hibiscus, 2008), contributes to the feeling of suspended time and space. It would be well worth viewing the works with the painter himself, who knows several animals species and their different varieties as well as an expert would. In addition to the main characters of the scene, Boscheri’s compositions include detailed mental representations of micro-environments. However, flowers, herbs and insects are consistent with their real habitat. Images are assembled like in a collage, which is partly made by using pictures fragments but also highly inspired by the various journeys the artist has taken in different wildlife reserves of the planet, specially from Sri Lanka... Boscheri’s general style and the special attention he pays to the natural world probably come from his personal life experience. He is self-taught and approaches painting after years of managerial experience in multinational companies. As many other contemporary artists coming from other walks of life (such as Maurizio Cattelan or Karsten Hoeller), he realises that the best way for him to contribute something to the world is art. His attraction to exotic places and the consequent meditation on nature are expressed in Boscher’s paintings through a stratification of techniques.A first background layer is made with the airbrush which confers a fluorescent aura with “flash” effects. In the second phase, the most demanding one, the artist builds the main framework of the painting by accurately defining the figures with acrylic or, more recently, with oil, as this allows him to use a wider range of nuances. The last stage consists of painting the circular decorative elements using the point of a brush, in the same way as the Aboriginal Australian rock-painting. These signs remind of the Aboriginal alphabet, however they are used like decorative arabesques. The artist has recently added some spangles, to match with the colourful natural images that complete the bright atmosphere of the paintings.
The result is a series of work meant not merely to illustrate, but to rather warn. It is some sort of “memento mori” to remind the viewer of the dramatic extinction risk many of the painted animals are exposed to.
