Critics / Press

Similitudes

It’s interesting, visceral, naive and bold. Reminiscent of Diego Rivera and even Frida Kahlo’s work. Even some of the French Fauveists. But does have his own subject matter. What’s interesting is that most of it is naive painting, but then there’s the one of the three wheeled vehicle on the sun and shadow street, very realistic and another with a stunningly real rendering of the sea, both are lovely and distinct. Finally, it’s really lusty painting by a man who knows his subject well.

Scott Thornley

Timeless

Taormina. August 2017. From 19th to 24th September, Belmond Grand Hotel will host the works by the illustrious artist Lorenzo Chinnici (Meri, 1942).  Not only is the exhibition an exciting artistic experience, it also provides an opportunity to enjoy the spectacular setting of one the world’s most stunning terraces, wrapped in the sweeping embrace of the Greek Theatre, ancient Sicily’s most famous monument and the unforgettable view of Sicily’s eastern coast, framed by the glittering waters of the Ionian Sea and the slumbering mass of Mount Etna.

In the monograph on Lorenzo Chinnici, Vittorio Sgarbi wrote: “If sight does not reveal the truth, memory and interior image will help to confirm that the eye is the most imaginative of the senses”. Indeed, our senses will enable us to appreciate Chinnici’s works in the setting of the Belmond Grand Hotel Timeo, a luxurious residence full of memories, a place whose history is interwoven to that of important, iconic characters, like Klimt or Wagner, as well as to several poets and writers, like Guy de Maupassant, D.H. Lawrence, Oscar Wilde and many others.

This exceptional setting is where Lorenzo Chinnici is opening his new exhibition, finally in his homeland after having exposed his works in international venues like Paris, Milan, London and New York. Indeed, the moment has come for Chinnici to return to his roots. Picturesque scenes of beaches, fishermen, wooden ships, washer women and peasants at work in the fields, populated with symbolic, ‘faceless’ figures, evoke the colors and memories of a Sicily ruled by the moods of sky and sea. They depict what has become a luxury only for privileged people: time.

Francesco Chinnici

Angels in Caltatagéron

Caltagirone (Sicily). July 2018. The event that will take place within the city hall (Palazzo Comunale) is of an incredible nature. For the first time in the history of art, a well-known artist will come back from beyond the grave to transmit his energy to the attending audience. The aforementioned event is the solo exhibition of the master Lorenzo Chinnici: “Angels in Calatagèron” (Angeli a Calatagèron).

The exuberant spirit of Caravaggio, that between 1608 and 1609 was in Caltagirone, is going to return to this enchanted place and join the art show through the world-renowned psychic Craig Warwick “The Man Who See and Talks With Angels” who has been taken over by many visions over the past years, has also channelled vibrations originating from Caltagirone.

Warwick has sensed the torment coming from both Caravaggio and from Lorenzo Chinnici. The former due to the fact that the painting he did in the calatina area - the area surrounding Caltagirone - was stolen in 1609. The latter due to his desire to embrace the soul of the great artist from Lombardy, one of the many models he aspired to be; the shadow of which also hovers over the writer Vincenzo Calí. The author, fascinated by Chinnici's artwork, writes poems while being inspired by his paintings, which appear to him in his dream-like visions.

The greatest works of the master Chinnici will be accompanied by the verses of said writer to recount the story of a fascinating Sicily, a melting pot of atavistic energy and of new drives.

Another integral part of the exhibition will be the containers which Chinnici used to store the paint he utilised in his artwork, and which have been fully restored #lasiciliainunbarattolo (#sicilyinapainttin). These vessels encapsulate the spirits of Sicily, the soul of the master, and which combined with voices, smells, laughter and poetry will spread among the present invoking them into a timeless dance.

 The exhibition makes significant comebacks possible, enabling Caltagirone, the city which hosts the grain bank (banca del grano), to germinate new life. To ultimate this event, thanks to a partnership with Simenza, an agricultural company, participants with receive a warm welcome and will be able to try their samples.

“Angels in Calatagèron” has also been possible thanks to the mediation of Michela Velardita and to the enthusiastic welcoming the project has received from the Town of Caltagirone (Comune di Caltagirone), a baroque town, renowned across the world for its exquisite ceramics.

The organisers who made this unordinary event possible, did not want to hold it with the pretence of promising a miracle, rather they wanted to recount a fable regarding Sicily in which dreams can become reality and to allow participants to undergo an extraordinary experience.

M.Velardita

Combination between mysticism and realism

I met Lorenzo Chinnici in the spring of 2016 in Lecco, invited to one of his art shows, and from the first moment an alchemy was taken. Struck by his gentility, calmness and his gentle manner, I read in his works immediately, a stark contrast to his artistic expression that instead calls for a strong figurative realism. Simple men and women depicted with bright chromaticism so as to bring out the strength and tenacity, fatigue and sweat of the hard work of fishermen and peasants as if to smell the acrid smell. The warm and intense colors used in his paintings to represent the rough bodies, which sometimes appear disproportionate, well delineat a harsh and strong land that denounces sacrifice and hope, Sicily.

I really wanted these paintings to be exhibited in a different location from the classic exhibition halls, so I asked the Master to present them in a perfect union between mysticism and popular realism, inside the rooms of the Certosa Museum in Serra San Bruno. The works of Lorenzo Chinnici have been so carefully inserted into the rooms of the museum, contaminating a place of research and contemplation, for the first time in the history of the Charterhouse. The careful supervision of Prior Basilio Trivellato was not lacking during the preparation, which recognized in Lorenzo the mastery of his art as well as the Authorities present at the inauguration of the event. Lorenzo's paintings have given the opportunity to the many visitors to reflect on the meaning of sacrifice and poverty in a place of silence and peace, such as the mystic Certosa di Serra San Bruno.

Antonio Lombardo

Spoleto Arte Meet Dalí and Van Gogh.

The figurative language of Lorenzo Chinnici finds its own congenial path, through a balanced essential, formal and chromatic synthesis. The visions recalled contain a very intense naturalistic lyricism, which places the human figure in the foreground. The colors are combined with perfect tonal harmony, generating varied visual inclinations.

Elena Gollini