Page 22 - Luigi Pericle_Beyondthevisible PRESS REVIEW_SHORT

Inthedarkbackgroundofhispaintingsomeabstractshapesarise.Theyresemblenaturalorhumanmotives:archangels,Golems,demons,mythologicalorbyblic creatures,visionarygeometrieswhichremindusoftheAtlantismythortheArkoftheCovenant,butalsopaintingsbyKlee,KandinskijorDubufet.Pericle’sdrawings insteadarecharacterisedbyquickandspontaneoussigns,asortofautomaticwritingwhichresemblesActionpaintingbyFranzKline.Alhisartworksbearthesame dedicationMatri Dei whichevokestheMotherofGod,theGreatMother.
Fameandoblivion
HisartworkswereappreciatedinthecontextoftheSixties“swingingLondon”.ThankstotheArthurTooth& Sonsgalery,hedisplayedinsoloexpositionsandgroup onesalongwithartistssuchasAppel,Tàpies,DubufetandPicasso.ThemightycuratorSirHerbertRead- artconsultantofPeggyGuggenheim -wasabsolutely impresedaftervisitinghisatelier;themuseologistHansHesevenorganizedatouringexhibitionofhisartworksinseveralBritishinstitutions.
HispaintingswereboughtbycolectorssuchasLadyTateorBrigiteHelm,thefamousactreswhowasprotagonistofthemovieMetropolis byFritzLang.Inthelate SeventiesPericledecidednottoexhibitanymoreandcompletelyavoidedalformsoflifeinsociety.NeithertheartistHansRichter-whointendedtointroducehim toan artgaleryinTokyo -succeededinmakingPericlecomeoutofhisconditionofself-seclusion.IntheEightiesheevenstoppedpaintingandcommitedtowritinginhis “goodretirement”inVilaSanTomaso.Hewroteasciencefictionnovelwithsomeevidentreferencestohisautobiographywhichwassetinapostatomicfuturecaled Bis ans Ende dei Zeiten (“Untiltheendoftimes”).Sohisvocationasanartistfelintooblivionlitlebylitle.
Whenhepassedawayin2001hewasrememberedbythelocalsasanastrologist,aufologist,ahomeopathandforsurewithamysteriousanddiscreetpersonality.Now ithasdefinitelycomethetimetore-discoverhim.InMayFondazioneQueriniStampaliawilhosthisfirstretrospectiveexhibitionrunningconcurentlywiththeVenice InternationalArtBiennale.Itwilthenbefolowedbyagreatexhibitionattheendof2020attheMasinLugano.
TheexhibitionsandtheArchive
Between1962and1965LuigiPericleexhibitedseveraltimesinLondonattheArthurTooth&SonsGalerywithcuratorshipsbyMartinSummers.In1964Pericletookpart ingroupexhibitionscaledColour, form and texture I andII.In1963theCastelnuovogalerybyTrudyCorayarangedhisanthologicalexhibitioninAscona.1965wasthe momentofhis“touringaroundexhibition”hostedbymanyBritishmuseums (York,Newcastle,HulandBristol).Now hisworkispromotedbyTheArchivioLuigiPericle (www.luigipericle.org).
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