Art Review: Marco Lusini and the Post-War Italian

Artists
Due to the overwhelming interest in Italian art from the 50s to the 80s, we are
rediscovering less-known artists from such Golden Era that played a pivotal role
in the cultural scene. Mazzoleni Gallery introduced us to Bonalumi's sculptural
works. A game player that blurred the boundaries between sculpture and
painting. Christie's held the very successful Italian Sale during Frieze Week with
record sales of over 27 million that included Alighiero Boetti, Piero Manzoni,
Alberto Burri and Lucio Fontana. Marco Lusini (Siena 1936-Florence 1989) , an
influential artist and a poet, has just enjoyed a well-deserved retrospective
titled: The Colours of the Human Soul at the Fiumano Fine Art Gallery in
central London, curated by filmmaker Laura DAsta in collaboration with New
York based art historian Gerhard Gruitrooy.

Marco Lusini as photographer on location Florence 1960s. Private collection.

Courtesy of the Estate of Marco Lusini.
The Siena-born Lusini experimented through photography, lithography,
illustration, drawing, sculpture and poetry, until settling in painting as his main

medium. His more frequent themes were the human figure and emotions,
landscapes and the Earth as a living organism. A visionary theory which claims
that a planet regulates itself for the benefit of the whole through every creature
being inter-connected. Lusini constantly portrayed this thoughts in his works
while James Lovelock famously named it as the Gaia hypothesis in 1970. Over
the years, it has gained wider acceptance in the scientific community, although
still highly debatable.
Riccardo Belloni, a respected art critic based in the Emilia-Romagna region,
described him as: an astronaut of inner space. Always as the human figure as
the starting point and with a varied influences such as the German playwright
Bertold Brecht, French poet Arthur Rimbaud, and the Sicilian countryside, Lusini
embarked himself on a journey immersing genderless bodies into a primitive
landscape at some point making impossible to differentiate which one is what
and blending them into one entity. A thought-provoking statement with a deep
philosophical message.

Untitled from Lovers series,1972. Private Collection. Courtesy of the Estate of

Marco Lusini.

Can you please tell us a bit about your background?

I am an Italian independent filmmaker, art director and creative producer as
well as a TorinoFilmLab alumna working across award-winning UK and
international independent productions from shorts and promos, through to
features and cross-media, including dance. I am the curator of Marco Lusini:
The Colours of the Human Soul, the first retrospective about the Italian artist
Marco Lusini which is part of an international interdisciplinary project Im
developing about the artist.
As a curator of the retrospective, you travelled through Siena, Florence and
Sicily, researched across the EU and the USA, tracking down artists, friends and
collectors who still remembered Lusini. What encouraged you to start such a
journey? Can you tell us an example of a comment given by one of his
colleagues that touched you deeply?
Lusini dedicated his life to art. As a friend and artist, I felt the urge to let him
and his art speak and shine again, spread his message and be able, at the
same time, to reunite his close friends, collaborators and collectors. He is a
man and an artist who has inspired me, as an artistic father, through all my life
and who is still part of my artistic and professional career. Lusinis style has
been defined as moral realism (Elvio Natali), a sincere, heartfelt commitment
to the human condition today, a desire to be involved in the story of ones own
time. Each moment spent with Marcos close friends, colleagues and collectors
touches me deeply like their eyes, silences and smiles. My dad remembered
when Marco was once at our place in Sicily prepping an exhibition and he
passed onto me (I was still few years old) his paint brushes and colours, the
colours of the soul. This is something that touches me deeply both personally
and professionally.
Laura D'Asta, the curator, has kindly agreed to respond to the following
questions:
Did you personally meet him? How was he like?
Yes, I did. I knew him very well as there was a very strong, deep connection
with my parents to the point that he was like a member of my family. He
treated me like his own daughter. So Marco used to visit my family often and
also took inspiration for his work from the Sicilian landscape and its
archaeological sites above all the necropolis of Pantalica in southeast Sicily
with its prehistoric, rock-cut chamber tombs. He was a very humble, generous
man with many cultural interests, strong knowledge of and passion for Italian
and international fine art.
Where does the title The Colours of the Human Soul come from?
The title comes from the exploratory journey through Lusinis world of vivid,
animated colours which recall the inner life of the human soul, allowing the
visitor to confront the artists recurrent themes of loneliness, freedom,
a/sexuality, melancholy, desire, faith, intimacy and mans relationship with the
environment. Marco once stated in an interview to a US newspaper that his

paintings do not reflect just objects but moods and he hoped to convey to
those observing his works a meaning to life.
How did you make the selection of the artworks for the show? Has it
been challenging to organise such an ambitious exhibition in London?
This first retrospective has displayed a range of all the above different media
the artist worked with from the early 60s to the late 80s. It has also been a
unique opportunity to revisit a remarkably thought-provoking period of Italian
art history seen through the eyes of a singular artist. Together with NY based
art historian Gerhard Gruitrooy, weve carefully selected Marcos oeuvre from
his various artistic phases, techniques and styles such as: Lovers, Mysterious
figures, Homage to Brecht, Homage to Rimbaud, Object Woman and Oneiric
Landscapes. And we wanted to show all of that.
Yes, its been a very challenging, magical and rewarding journey. It has been
very challenging from the very first stage of research and development through
to self-funding and fundraising and as well as letting the light shine above an
artist who has been unsung for a very long time. Im still hoping Ill be able to
bring a Marco Lusini exhibition to Italy one day.
How has been the reaction of the members of the public to the show?
The reaction of the public in London has been terrific. It has been a very special
exhibition which has had a wide audience reuniting his closest friends and
attracting British and Italian art lovers young and old, as well as an
international general public.
For more information about Marco Lusini and the exhibition, please visit the
following website: http://www.lauradasta.com/cross-platform.html

Untitled from Oneiric Landscapes series, 1980-1982. Private Collection.

Courtesy of the Estate of Marco Lusini.