A solo exhibition of works by Martino Zanetti, the studious entrepreneur and President of Hausbrandt Trieste 1892, opened on Friday, 21 October at the Vittoriale degli Italiani complex in Gardone Riviera.
This is a venue that holds a deep significance for Martino Zanetti. An enthusiastic scholar of D’Annunzio’s works and manuscript collector, the entrepreneur has recently donated his entire collection of more than 3,000 original, unpublished documents in order for them to be showcased and appreciated in the author’s final residence.
Villa Mirabella provides the setting for a striking exhibition that expresses Martino Zanetti’s lifelong love of culture and different artistic expressions. Colours that become feelings, a play of textures on canvas, bright chromatic impressions radiating strength, a joy of colour.
“Colour is my interpretation of reality. Human feeling is not made up of words. Too many words kill an artistic subject. Andy Warhol’s affirmation that the repetition of an artistic subject leads to its elusion is the end result of a foolish overvaluation and interpretation of art from the perspective of an advertising artist”, stated Martino Zanetti.
“With respect to Jackson Pollock, on the other hand, his ‘colour blindness’ led him to a point of desperation that manifested itself aesthetically in the famous ‘blue poles’ or ‘black poles’ that cut across the images”, he continued.
Martino Zanetti’s approach to art stems from his creative personality, and a love of culture and books that he inherited from his father.
He stated, “I dedicate the exhibition to my father Virginio, who gave me everything except money. After 40 years, I have re-entered the art world out of love.
For me painting is colour and emotion, and emotion has no form. Colour is my interpretation of feelings.
The spirit has no need of words. Where there are words, the object ceases to exist”.
“In my childhood recollections of 1950 and 1955 in Burano, I have vivid memories of Bruno Saetti, Vincenzo Guidi, sculptor Carmelo Conte and literary figures like Carlo Bo and Silvio Branzi gathering in the Barbaro family restaurant in Burano.
I was therefore able to see these artists at work and absorb the intellectual candour and essentialization of the image. My passion for painting began at that time.
It was indirectly transmitted by my aunt Gina Roma, and I count as sources of inspiration Virgilio Guidi and the Venetian masters.
By subsequently studying the classics and producing copies of them, my artistic talents
matured, leading me to exhibit in solo exhibitions in numerous cities until 1976”.
This solo exhibition provides an opportunity for several observations on painting.
“In the twentieth century, the aesthetic manifestation known as painting experienced a calamity of verbosity in which essentially the artist changed but the art remained the same.
To attract an emerging social group and its self-identification with the artistic realm, certain figures from the subculture, liberated by snobbish or intellectual attitudes, promoted artistic figures lacking substantial value.
The sense of the evaluative capacity of the aesthetic area known as painting was lost and, thanks to the actions of commercial galleries, confused with re-editions of pseudo ‘figurines’ and bizarre aesthetic fetishes called installations.
The years between 2000 and the present seem to stretch for a century. There is a deafening silence of expectation; it is a time of momentous change, leading to an outcome that is unimaginable.
The unpredictability or predictability of what is occurring highlights the failure and need for deliverance.
I believe a strong showing of silent intelligence and positive creativity is needed, discovering that hidden undercurrent that connects to the small Chinese monk, for whom
reality did not require many words”.
“It is a voyage through the senses”, according to Martino Zanetti, and his painting takes the viewer on a journey that is light and full of colours, defining a joyous art.
The President of the Vittoriale degli Italiani, Giordano Bruno Guerri, stated about the exhibition: “Although extremely modern – or rather ahead of his time – in his entrepreneurial activities, Martino Zanetti is a Renaissance man due to the versatility of his artistic passion. The works in this exhibition are an explosive demonstration of this and, not coincidentally, reminiscent of D’Annunzio”.
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*Martino Zanetti and his colours*
*Solo exhibition *
*21 October – 19 February *
*Villa Mirabella*
*Il Vittoriale degli Italiani – Gardone Riviera (BS)*
