Impassive faces like Byzantine icons, constructions as precise as they are improbable, dreamlike scenes suspended in an indefinite time. Giulio Rigoni‘s mystical art awakens multitudes of memories and impressions, strictly without a reading guide.
Giulio, tell us your artistic story.
I studied art history at university, but then life took me elsewhere. I moved to London and started working in advertising. However, this passion for art resurfaced and I started painting almost for fun. In my work I am very much inspired by my first love: late Gothic art. It is an art that straddles the Byzantine style, which is so far removed from naturalism, and the Renaissance, which instead delved into the discovery of nature and verisimilitude. In the late Gothic period, people began to work on the human figure, but the human figure continued to have more spiritual than realistic forms. This is something that fascinates me a lot, and it was the starting point for my work.
You have a very personal and recognisable style, which in some cases recalls the atmospheres of One Thousand and One Nights. Are there direct references?
I am not directly inspired by these tales, but I can be described as a traditionalist and I am fascinated by classical cultures, including Middle Eastern ones. I also like the somewhat dreamy settings, which certainly draw on fairy-tale imagery. The key to my art is precisely the transition between reality and fiction, where the latter helps to better understand the former. If I had to describe my art in one word, I would call it mystical. I do not like to give interpretations or keys to interpretations, precisely because I like to think that everyone can find something different in my works. To live a unique and, indeed, mystical experience.
What do you draw inspiration for your artwork?
Often it is themes that give rise to series. For example, I designed the series of towers, which are all different from each other although they start from a common idea. I like architecture in general, and perhaps I am a failed architect. I like geometries, I like buildings from the past. This jumble of imaginative forms amuses me and always gives me stimuli. More and more often, I also work on commissions; in this case, the client asks me to interpret memories, narratives, which I usually realise on several boards.
You love black backgrounds a lot.
For backgrounds, I also love red and blue a lot, but in general my palette is rather limited: I use about 12 colours and they are always the same.What do you think of the Cinquerosso Arte project?I am very happy to be involved, also because a good friendship has developed with Francesca Fazioli and I like her enthusiasm a lot. Moreover, this collaboration came at the right time, because I have been interested in fine art printing for some time. With this type of very high quality reproduction, the work of art becomes more accessible and democratic, and I would like to explore its potential in relation to some of my works.
