ART WITHIN SURFACES
The Lightness of Colour in Le Rond’s Solo Exhibition Monica Fumagalli, ipcm® “He who works with his hands is a labourer. He who works with his
The poetry of wood and metal
hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands
Throughout his production, Le Rond has always had a predilection for
and his head and his heart is an artist.”
wood and metal (iron). For this exhibition, the artist transformed wood
Saint Francis of Assisi
recovered from marble quarries in the surrounding area into artistic
F
objects, emphasising his deep connection both with his roots and with
or over three years now, our magazine has been investigating the
this material, which lends itself to various poetic interpretations, be it
relationship between the surface treatment industry and art. Last
raw or treated and painted. On the other hand, metal, which evokes the
December, ipcm and eos Mktg&Communication, the publishing
craftsmanship and the industrial processes that can be observed in a
®
house of our magazines, had the opportunity to play an active role in
foundry, had a double value in this solo show: in addition to being the
a high-profile art exhibition for the first time, becoming its sponsor:
constituent material of most of the works on display, it was also chosen
“Poesia Geometrica: l’arte come atto vitale” (i.e. “Geometric Poetry: art as
for the exhibition’s display supports. Indeed, with the exception of the
a vital act”).
largest ones (about 2 m), which were placed on the ground, all the works
Held from 3 to 24 December 2022, then extended until 31st December,
of art presented were positioned on special “suspended” modular metal
in the old parish church of Urago Mella (Brescia, Italy), this solo show brought together the works realised from 2020 to 2022 by Giovanni Lamberti, AKA Le Rond, already the protagonist of several articles published on these pages1. Aimed at reflecting this Brescia-based artist’s aesthetic development over the last two years, the exhibition was part of the broad range of events connected to the appointment of BresciaBergamo as Italy’s Capital of Culture for 2023. One of the reasons why Le Rond’s artistic world is so fascinating can be traced right in the works on display in this exhibition, characterised by the perfect balance between “concrete and exact forms, with a clear geometric and rational imprinting” – as Giovanna Galli stated in the critical comment she wrote for the show’s catalogue2 – and by the willingness to communicate through colour, “double knotted to the works’ purely aesthetic content, but also emotional and playful, thus promoting interpretative freedom within an unavoidable relational dimension.” Such a dimension was made even more evocative by the location chosen for this solo exhibition: a restored 17th-century parish church, in which Lamberti’s works were perfectly integrated through their balance between shapes and colours.
1 https://www.ipcm.it/en/open/ipcm/2020/61/148-150.aspx https://www.ipcm.it/en/open/ipcm/2021/68/142-144.aspx https://www.ipcm.it/en/open/ipcm/2022/76/116-118.aspx “Giovanni Lamberti: poesia geometrica, l’arte come atto vitale – opere e progetti 2020-2022”, Intese Grafiche Srl, November 2022.
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N. 79 - JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023 - international PAINT&COATING magazine