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Art of Loving Italy

Art of Loving Italy

Art & Beauty are all around us.

The amazing world of Massimo Balestrini

June 21, 2020 by Melissa Muldoon Leave a Comment

Massimo-Balestrini-artist-verona-italy-Italian-Surr

It is a pleasure to introduce you to a very good friend of mine—Massimo Balestrini
and share with you his art!

Massimo Balestrini was born in Milan at the end of the ’60s and after his art studies in high school he graduated in Computer Science from the State University of Milan and shortly there after from the Painting Academy of Fine Arts in Brera. His artistic production has always been a combination of classic and digital mediums. He currently holds a chair in Painting and Digital image processing at the Academy of Fine Arts in Verona.

Massimo Balestrini nasce a Milano alla fine degli anni ’60 e dopo gli studi artistici alle scuole superiori, si laurea in Informatica all’Università statale di Milano per diplomarsi successivamente con lode in Pittura all’Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera. La sua produzione artistica è da sempre un connubio di medium classici e digitali. Attualmente è titolare di cattedra in Pittura ed Elaborazione digitale dell’immagine presso l’Accademia di Belle Arti di Verona.

Massimo-Balestrini-artist-verona-italy-Italian-Surr

Balestrini’s works tells stories. They are visual narratives rich in messages, often subliminal, hidden in the pictorial and digital texture of the work, expertly mixed together in an indistinguishable way.

Le opere di Balestrini raccontano storie. Sono narrazioni visuali ricche di messaggi, spesso subliminali, nascosti nella trama pittorica e digitale dell’opera, mischiate sapientemente in maniera indistinguibile.

Massimo-Balestrini-artist-verona-italy-Italian-Surr

In his works we see symbols of modernity: cars (from those of the 1950s to futuristic cars that fly), boundless cities, bright advertising signs that sponsor all types of material goods that can be purchased through the money god, beautiful and sensual women portrayed as pin-ups take from the covers of glossy magazines.

Nei suoi lavori vediamo apparire i simboli della modernità: automobili ( da quelle degli anni ’50 fino a quelle volanti), città sconfinate, insegne pubblicitarie luminose che sponsorizzano ogni tipo di bene materiale acquistabile tramite il dio denaro, donne bellissime e sensuali ritratte come pin-up da copertina delle riviste patinate.

Massimo-Balestrini-artist-verona-italy-Italian-Surr

He depicts places and people that do not have a real temporal location. The paintings are created in a densely crowded way with details expertly distributed throughout the space. Balestrini uses a technique similar to frottage (the technique of rubbing from an uneven surface or silk screen image transfer to form the basis of a work of art) to create the effect of “disturbance” or “perturbation” (a sense of movement) that affects the entire plot of the work.

Egli rappresenta luoghi e persone che non hanno una reale collocazione temporale.
I quadri sono dipinti in maniera fitta, affollati di particolari sapientemente distribuiti nello spazio. Balestrini si serve di una tecnica simile al frottage per generare disturbo ed effetto perturbazione che si ripercuote su tutta la trama dell’opera.

Massimo-Balestrini-artist-verona-italy-Italian-Surr

Many of the works represent a reference to the collective memory that drives the desires of society in a pop-iconic mixture. The artist doesn’t seek to spell out these meanings, but they are gleaned from the narrative found in the fragmentation and interpretation of the multitude of details.

Molte delle opere rappresentano un richiamo alla memoria collettiva che raggruppa pulsioni e desideri in una miscela pop-iconica che non cerca l’assolutezza del discorso, ma trova nella frammentazione dei dettagli dipinti l’interezza della narratività.

Massimo-Balestrini-artist-verona-italy-Italian-Surr

The entire canvas is covered by a myriad of signs that compresses and confuses the plurality of the images which in turn contain and hide other images, plots and subplots of an endless story. If we take for example the painting entitled “The Original Sin” we notice that on the bottom you can recognize the image from German artist Luca Cranach The Elder’s painting “Adam and Eve.” (1526)

Tutto è ricoperto da una miriade di segni che comprime e confonde la pluralità delle immagini le quali a loro volta contengono e nascondono altre immagini, trame e sottotrame di una storia senza fine. Se prendiamo ad esempio il quadro intitolato “THE ORIGINAL SIN” notiamo che sul fondo si può riconoscere una silhouette che disegna il profilo di “Adamo ed Eva” un’opera del 1526 del pittore tedesco Lucas Cranach Il Vecchio.

Massimo-Balestrini-artist-verona-italy-Italian-Surr
Massimo-Balestrini-artist-verona-italy-Italian-Surr
Massimo-Balestrini-artist-verona-italy-Italian-Surr

At the bottom crawling behind the protagonists, a winged snake appears (used by Cranach himself as the logo of his production) which shows no beginning or end. The paintings also feature soldiers, warplanes, and missiles, and pin-ups. On the breasts of Eve, the words “profit” and “ethics” appear symmetrical and in perfect antithesis while on the chest of Adam an apple is painted, perhaps a heart-shaped tattoo and the word “sin” under which a bright scar opens (the rib from which his partner was created).

Sul fondo, strisciante dietro ai protagonisti, appare un serpente alato (usato dallo stesso Cranach come logo della sua produzione), che non mostra inizio né fine. Nel quadro sono disegnati anche soldati, aerei da guerra e missili e pin-up. Sui seni di Eva appaiono simmetriche ed in perfetta antitesi le scritte “profit” ed “ethics” mentre sul petto di Adamo è dipinta una mela, forse un tatuaggio a forma di cuore e la scritta “sin” sotto la quale si apre una cicatrice luminosa (la costola dalla quale la sua compagna è stata creata).

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The quotations range from art history (an angel armed with a sword appears on the head of Adam taking the engraving “Exile from Heaven” (by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfel) to vintage advertisement of muscle creams (1950s comic books) to the world politics and economics (George W. Bush and mountains of dollars are hidden in Eve’s hair.

Le citazioni spaziano dalla storia dell’arte (sulla testa d’Adamo appare un angelo armato di spada che riprende l’incisone “Esilio dal Paradiso” di Julius Schnorr von Carolsfel) alle pubblicità vintage delle creme dei muscoli (comics book anni ’50) al mondo della politica e dell’economia (George W. Bush e montagne di dollari sono nascosti nei capelli di Eva).

Massimo-Balestrini-artist-verona-italy-Italian-Surr
Massimo-Balestrini-artist-verona-italy-Italian-Surr

In his work appear written texts and graffiti, cartoon captions, childish drawings and hidden images, sometimes huge, sometimes very small, represented in color or monochromatic or as negatives.

Nelle sue opere appaiono testi scritti e graffiti, baloon dei fumetti, disegni infantili ed immagini nascoste, a volte enormi, a volte piccolissime, rappresentate in nuove cromie oppure in maniera monocromatica, in negativo o in positivo.

Massimo-Balestrini-artist-verona-italy-Italian-Surr
Massimo-Balestrini-artist-verona-italy-Italian-Surr

This increasingly dense vortex
of visual information leads the |viewer to consider Balestrini’s canvases a “super image.”

Questo vortice sempre più fitto di informazione visuale conduce
il fruitore a considerare le opere come “superimmagini”.
Massimo-Balestrini-artist-verona-italy-Italian-Surr

The journey into these worlds is based on both real memories as well as imagined experiences and hopes for the future, combined they draw us into an emotional state that encourages us to reflect on our choices and the dystonias of our times.

Il viaggio all’interno di questi mondi, allo stesso tempo reali come un ricordo e immaginari come le nostre speranze per il futuro, porta verso uno stato emotivo che spinge a riflettere sulle scelte e le distonie dei nostri tempi.

Massimo-Balestrini-artist-verona-italy-Italian-Surr

The painting becomes a place where a hundred stories and just as many combinations of possibilities could transpire, and the artist leaves it to the viewer to choose the meaning—he gives us a map, but allows us to navigate and draw our own conclusions.

Il quadro diventa un luogo all’interno del quale si accendono cento storie e possibilità di combinazione che l’artista lascia libere di scegliere, a cui dà semplicemente un indirizzo, una traccia. Tocca allo spettatore diventare esploratore per intuire l’opera e lasciarsi attrarre da questa densità di elementi visuali.

Massimo-Balestrini-artist-verona-italy-Italian-Surr

It is inevitable that the viewer will get lost in the stories and so many visual stimuli. The observer will bring his own mental associations to each colorful and fascinating work of art and interpret each according to his own experience and emotions.

Inevitabile perdersi fra le storie e abbandonarsi agli stimoli visivi, alle associazioni mentali e alla superficie trattata come un palinsesto colorato e affascinante da interpretare secondo il proprio vissuto o la propria emotività.

I invite you to visit Massimo Balestrini’s website

Massimo Balestrini Website

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Filed Under: 20th Century, Contemporary, Modern, 18th, 19th, Contemporary Tagged With: Italian Contemporary Art, Massimo Balestrini

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