Along the road leading from Massarosa to Pieve a Elici (in the province of Lucca), being surrounded by the beautiful view of Lake Massaciuccoli and the whole of Versilia, together with Filippo Lotti, great curator of art exhibitions and most importantly a great friend, we arrived to painter Riccardo Luchini, to whom I made a portrait for the catalog of his next exhibition.
Who is Riccardo Luchini?
Riccardo Luchini was born in Milan. After playing the role of lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera and the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, he was a lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara and finally at that of Urbino. He is now retired and is totally committed to his art.
His workshop itself is a work of art!
Entering his studio is like being slung into a parallel reality made up of works and cans of color. On the ground floor, where the kitchen rose once, a warehouse of works of art opens up before my eyes, beautiful in its imperfection, dusty, without a logical order: a dichotomy between the artist and his chaos which inspires him.
The upper floor is accessed via a narrow staircase at the end of which is located a room with a dusty bed. The dust, the cobwebs, the scattered pictures, almost seem put there on purpose to make that place mystical. Everything is exactly where it should be.
And then there’s is the attic where Luchini brings his works to life. After the dim light of the lower rooms, one ends up dazzled by the light which penetrates the window. A light which returns in every detail the only seemingly incongruous elements like the paint cans scattered everywhere but which, in reality, like set diamonds, hold themselves together through their drips.
Those same drafts from which the artist draws to make each work unique in its kind. In a world like this I see a work of art, the artist immersed in his essence, in his world, that same world he allowed me to portray.
In a world like this I see a work of art, the artist immersed in his essence, in his world, that same world he allowed me to portray.
And mark this date and place: 5 May 2018 (from 5 pm) – Casaconcia, Ponte a Egola (Pi)
