EXHIBITIONS

Preview of the American exhibition : journey in Cape Cod

Through this exhibition in the Galleria Ars Antiqua, Silvestro Pistolesi comes back to Bergamo after a years of absence due to his commitment in realizing of the great public works such as the “lunette” of the Abbey of Vallombrosa and the frescoes in the Church of the Transfiguration of Cape Cod (Ma).
He will display a preview of the exhibition which will take place in Cape Cod, Massachusetts during the summer 2010 when the frescoes are completed. To be exposed at the Galleria Ars Antiqua some studies regarding the use of sanguine in frescoes and some mixed technique Cape Cod landscapes ; won’t be missing his famous fantastic-matter “tempera” playing along with his oil sketches or his delightful ink drawings realized with oak berries by the artistic. During the exhibition, an interesting video on Cape Cod frescoes will be showed to illustrate him at work in the several steps of the realization giving an overall idea about how a fresco arises.
This great pictorial cycle is composed of 13 paintings  ( cm. 390 x 270 each ) for both the naves which alternatively depict  scenes of Jesus life and “Beati”(blessed) scenes. Under these plasterboards and above the columns are placed the “vele 12” which are frescoed too and depict Bible characters.
This is the most important cycle of the Maestro Pistolesi’s “affreschi”, a master hand of this difficult technique. The latter will include frescoed walls in some famous churches among which the Abbey of  Montecassino and the Monastery of the Verna. The affreschi inside the Church of the Transfiguration started in 2001 needing substantive undertaking even for the preparation which took place in Florence’s atelier; first crafting an overall sketch  and then drawing every single character either the entire figure or with the details (face, hands and so on). As soon as all the preparatory studies are done, the Maestro goes into the place and starts the out-and-out “affresco” ; first with the cleaning of the overall cardboard which, once it’s incised to make a hole on it, will be recovered with colored powder and immediately stuck on the wall to draw an overall trace.  In the days to come, the “tagliata”(cutting) should be chosen, it is nothing more than the piece of plaster so called veil upon which the artist will paint directly  using natural pigments which will incorporate the wall itself.
Another notorious public work about to be achieved is the 22-lunette (moon-shaped realizations) pictorial circle dedicated to San Giovanni Gualberto’s life, patron of the Corpo Forestale (forest corp), for the Abbey of Vallombrosa. Made on paintings using “tempera” technique located in the cloister are expected to be finished within a couple of years.
It’s useless to remind that Pistolesi’s artistic learning took place in the Maestro Pietro Annigoni’s  atelier and that his accomplishment exhibition dates back to London, 1972 which established the mainstays for the success he will face in all his future national and international exhibitions until now. The many portraits he realized for private and public figures including Doctor Cooley (a Huston heart-surgeon)  and the Holy father Pope Giovanni Paolo II deserve a distinguishing mention.