This is a very special interview: the ZITTIZITTI feature
Basically, it’s the same series of question that the English journalist Daniel Farson asked to Francis Bacon in a 1958 TV show. The interview was broadcasted only once, but then the original video got lost, and now only the script with the questions remains.
Today, I decided to bring it back with contemporary artists (and painters in particular) in the above-quoted feature of my magazine. The questions may be some decades old, but they are still very relevant today.
Now is the turn of the france figurative painter Magdalena Lamri to answer the questions of Daniel Farson alias Emanuele Beluffi.
The Precious Things 2015 Huile sur toile 100×100
Daniel Farson alias Emanuele Beluffi: Do you paint for money?
I paint because it is the only thing I can do…
Then why do you exhibit your work?
It is a difficult question in fact. Art must be shared to live. It is not easy for an artist to exhibit his/her work…You feel naked. But you have no choice, it’s the game. To continue to paint, you have to play the game.
What if no one wants to see your work? Would you be sad about it?
There is nothing worse that the indifference.
What if you wouldn’t be sad? Would you keep on painting?
I think i would keep on painting yes. It would be stronger than me. For me, Painting is like breathing.
Many people feel betrayed when they visit an art exhibit because everything is so different from what they believe. Don’t you think that art is supposed to teach things to the public?
Artists are not teachers…I think we have to open desperately closed doors: ask questions. Sponsor debates. Help people to wonder about the world they live in.
Amid the countless things produced today, how can we establish what is good and what isn’t?
I suppose that all this is very subjective, isn’t it? But it is true that we are literally mired in a Society of Image and it is difficult to sort it out. Maybe knowledge of Art History and Culture help us to form a more objective and argued opinion.
Action Painters paint without a brush. Only the purpose counts. It doesn’t matter if your artwork consists of you going around on a bike or what you make with it. Isn’t that a novelty in the art industry?
Nihil novi sub sole…
Can a bad artist paint a good picture?
What is a bad artist? And what is a good picture? The main thing is to express oneself, isn’t it? As far as I am concerned, the bad artist is the one who is not sincere. And, believe me, one day, it jumps out!
How many painters are able to get what they want?
None. Art is an obsession. And when you find what you’re looking for, another search obsesses you…It has no end.
Do you really think that art is important?
Art is essential, vital. Imagine a world without arts, without beauty, without poetry, without freedom…It does not make you dream, right?
Does it matter that most people don’t understand modern art?
If people want to understand it, they simply have to be interested in it…If they don’t? Too bad for them!
Do you think photography pushed art toward a whole new direction?
Photography and new technologies are wonderful ‘tools’ for Art! All means are good to express oneself. It is necessary to evolve with our time without forgetting knowledge of past. With all this, you can create BIG things!
Don’t you think that, today more than ever, painters only paint for other painters?
It would be very sad to think this! A lot of people are sensitive to painting! Nothing can replace material, the sensuality of oilpainting, the vibration of colors …Believe me, Painting is not dead!!!
In order to paint a great picture, is it necessary to be able to exactly reproduce someone’s anatomy?
I am of those who think that technique and knowledge of drawing are essential to paint a great picture. If you don’t have that, you can’t be free and you can’t take any risk. You are chained to what you believe to know, the progress turns out complicated. But when you have that, everything is possible!
Do you think it makes sense to talk about art?
Yes but it is a difficult exercise for me or many other artists. Put art (our art) into words is a real nightmare…
If you were able to say everything about art, would you still paint?
Is it compatible? In fact, I don’t know…Fortunately, I’m not able!
Is the fact that some people aren’t able to understand your work important to you?
I don’t necessary wish that they understand it or analyze it. I just want them not to be indifferent. I really like the idea that my work wakes them up, makes them travel, makes them alive. Just feel. Just dream. That’s all.
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