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Conversation with the artist Veronica Calzecchi Onesti
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Back in the early 80s there was a project over the whole of this area known as Project Echo which was aimed at providing links between the educational system, the home environment and culture in general.
In those years the guiding hand behind this project was the teacher Duse Lemmeti (now retired) and the then assesore of cultura for Castelnuovo, dott. Carlo Popiaz (now the principal of the IPSIA school in Castelnuovo – interview with dott. Popaiz can be heard here)
Unfortunately that project is long gone but one vital part which was first announced all those years ago at the age of new technology taken on a new life. The idea then was to build a “cultural map” of the area with a census of the artists working within the territory.
Long before the age of Internet this meant a good deal of letter writing, faxing and telephoning to build up a comprehensive list of working artists in this area.
All that has now changed as we move into the era of daily and constant contact.
Barga is known as art city not just historically but also because of the many exhibitions by contemporary artists during the year.
Over the next few months we will be talking with and compiling a comprehensive list of the working artists in this area.
The first on the list is the almost reclusive Veronica Calzecchi Onesti, also known by her pseudonym of Bianca, who last exhibited in this area back in 2007 with a very successful Gatti Alchemici Exhibition in the Galleria Comunale in Barga Vecchia.
Since then people have seen her work but this afternoon, we were invited into her studio to spend some time in conversation with her.
That conversation in which she talks ( in Italian) about the huge mix mythologies which influence her work can be heard at the end of this article.
(c) RIPRODUZIONE RISERVATA
barganews
12:07 am
Grazie della bellissima chiacchierata, Keane!
2:01 pm
Veronica’s rendition of the Mandarin ideogram “mao” (“cat”) would impress Chinese poets. She slightly exaggerates the component elements, known as “radicals” — a sign of highly cultivated personal style in written Chinese. The character in question is in itself a kind of poem. It has three parts. The left-hand radical signifies “4-legged animal” and the central is “field.” But it is the upper radical, which often spells out fine details, that is most telling. It is “gong,” which translates as “joined hands.”
A cat, in the Chinese calligraphic system, is therefore a 4-legged animal that hunts in the fields, using its two front paws to capture and hold onto its prey.
5:14 pm
By “slightly exaggerates,” I mean that she brings a free and fluid hand to the character strokes — which is a sign of artistic merit in Chinese calligraphy.
2:49 pm
the comments section has gradually taken its place as a valid addition to the whole site experience thanks to our readers – a thank you to you all
10:57 pm
Scrivo in italiano, tanto capite! grazie del commento Frank, che bello sentirti! Hai visto che bello questo ideogramma? L’ho trovato su un libro sui gatti che ho, appena l’ho visto mi è venuto spontaneo girarlo! Grazie della tua precisazione sul suo significato! Lo metterò in uno dei miei prossimi quadri!
11:02 pm
Keane scusa come si ascolta l’intervista?
11:30 am
Molti servizi di questo giornale sono, per alcune parti, riservati ai soli abbonati Premium. E’ il caso di questo articolo che può essere letto, nella sua integralità, compreso l’intervista, esclusivamente da chi ha regolarmente sottoscritto un abbonamento che può avere durata settimanale, mensile o annuale.
A sua disposizione per ogni ulteriore chiarimento. Distinti saluti.
Luca Galeotti