Un sacro dire di sì. Giancarlo Frison scultore
Preass Release
The exhibition is a retrospective of the sculptural production of the artist Giancarlo Frison. Contrary to the rhetoric of other authors, who are driven by similar pedagogical aims, Frison’s forms and poetics are characterized by lightness. His dreamy style has the ability to liberate the observer’s imagination, a synthesis possible only for those who approach Sculpture with both technical and ethical awareness. This allows him to speak to both the eyes of the unlearned and the learned alike. It is a sort of ethical dream realism. The works on display are composed of various cycles: some openly reference the Sacred, others to the Phenomenal aspects of Nature or the Work of the Countryside in a descriptive manner, while still others address the Symbolic and Topological Geometries. The artist’s intention to unite his various communicative experiences into a single entity is evident and effective, especially in his latest works. In these, the elements are so intertwined that it becomes impossible to categorize his sculpture within a “single stream”; labeling it would be a gross mistake, as his language is both highly personal and universal.
As Ernesto Luciano Francalanci writes: In the possible manifestation of art as truth, authentic works must erase every trace of reconciliation. They can only scream, bearing witness to the decay of our time. In the “zones of respect,” the fragrance of flowers intertwines with the miasma of evil.
Mirella Nalon Cisotto interprets his work as follows: (Frison’s Art) is always the bearer of a message that gives rise to a poetic of complete coherence, in which the themes of life and death are intimately connected and translated, to borrow further words from Arcangeli, “as a cycle of seasons, of regeneration.” Frison’s work, while stylistically belonging to the artistic languages of contemporary times, reveals an ancient root.
Pier Luigi Fantelli concludes: If by “gentle” one means – as the dictionary dictates – “affable, courteous, pleasant,” Frison’s “words” – his works – are the result of a “soft” approach to the material, respectfully treated to achieve the best possible outcome: hence the perceptive value and “aesthetic pleasure,” that is, the BEAUTY without which artistic communication cannot exist.
Frison’s patronage, often born from great friendship and esteem, should be mentioned: such is the case of Marco Boato, who, regarding the work “Memorial for a Mother,” created by Frison for the mother of the Boato brothers, writes: Even today, after more than twenty years, I am moved every time I contemplate and admire it, with a sense of profound gratitude to the artist: for his artistic ability and also for his unique humanity.
According to Brunilde Neroni, Frison’s lyrical and poetic aspect is fully expressed in the “Cycle of months and seasons” described in the three large bronze bas-reliefs, of the same title: In the Shadow of the House with Arches Meanwhile Lives Were Born and Small Animals Grew, Hours Chased Each Other, Marked by Dawns and Sunsets, against the Background of Angelus Recited Among Sheaves and Straw Barns, Sowing and Harvesting… while in the barn the father milked the cow, precious for the family at the end of the day, until the birds flocked to rest, among the autumn clouds. In a whole midday sun arc.
Finally, the results of Frison’s Sculpture are absolutely independent of the medium used: be it terracotta, bronze, patinated bronze, brass, glass, nylon, fiberglass, or Ready Made.
Giancarlo Frison was born in the countryside of Selve di S. Benedetto in 1949. His high school years, spent with the students of the Praglia Monastery at the Episcopal Seminary of Padua, provided him with the opportunity to visit exhibitions, museums, and churches. He received the basics of plastic modeling from the sculptor Licia Boldrin, the niece of the sculptor Paolo Boldrin. He graduated in Contemporary Art under Professor Umbro Apollonio at the University of Padua.
The major sculpture exhibitions and his encounters with artists and critics, combined with his studies, fueled his passion for abstract and geometric sculpture and the world of morphogenetic intuitions originating from primary solids, topology, and knots. A decisive influence during this phase was his meeting with Giò Pomodoro and Max Bill.
The emergence of a progressive critical detachment from the estrangement of art in elitist spaces and his engagement with commissions intended for everyday simple settings led him to embrace the need for a common language, nourished by memory and tradition.
Exhibition curated by Paolo Pavan
Ernesto Luciano Francalanci, Mirella Nalon Cisotto, Pier Luigi Fantelli, Marco Boato and Brunilde Neroni are the Italian critics who contributed to the book Un sacro dire di sì. Giancarlo frison scultore.
