Luigi Ontani

1943, Vergato, Italy

Luigi Ontani is an eclectic, visionary artist born in Vergato in 1943. Considered one of the most emblematic figures in Italian contemporary art, he has developed an artistic practice spanning multiple expressive languages: photography, painting, sculpture, performance. Since the late 1960s Ontani has been known for his personal, erudite and ironic iconography, in which he reworks mythological, religious and literary symbols, blending autobiography and allegory. His famous "tableaux vivants" and his papier-mâché and ceramic masks have made him a unique figure on the international art scene, capable of combining the theatricality of performance with the refinement of symbolic imagery. He lives and works between Rome and India.

Luigi Ontani

7articollicatarsi,
watercolour on canvas-backed paper, 2013
105x105 cm

In 7articollicatarsi Luigi Ontani builds a bodily and spiritual allegory in perfect harmony with his symbolic universe. The title plays on the words "articolazioni" (joints), "colli" (necks/hills) and "catarsi" (catharsis), suggesting an alchemical transformation involving body, landscape and spirit. The yellow body, multiplied and radiant, becomes mountain, tree, divine being: an anthropomorphic figure merging with nature in an explosion of vitality and arcane meanings. Fruits, leaves and animals unfold like emblems within a mythological narrative that evokes play and ritual, art and life. The brilliant use of watercolour and the centripetal composition make it a vibrant work, rich in Eastern and Baroque symbolism typical of Ontani's poetics.