The “Circolo degli Esteri del Ministero Affari Esteri of Rome host the personal exhibition of Loris Liberatori “Jardins d’Europe”: a broad selection of his major works: a tribute to the water as the origin of life and as a message of safeguard of the environment.
The artist Loris Liberatori is known as the painter of water, water that is changeable and mutable and its dynamism inspires the works of the artist.
His works have the great ability to capture those who look at them, also thanks to the three-dimensionality of the canvases, due to the unconventional technique of the artist that often inserts sand and tissue in his works.
The Liberatori’s water is also a symbolic way to make people reflect upon the importance of this element as a metaphor of the energy of life, an important need that has to be protect.
His civil effort is not only shown through his works but also through his teaching activity which purpose is to make people discover their creativity.
Below the exclusive interview
Q: Can you introduce yourself to our lectors ?
A: I’m a painter and during my life I was very lucky because I have always been able to live from my work.
While working as a painter I also started a teaching career: for me the exchange with my students is essential.
Q: Why did you decide to start painting ?
A: It simply was the best way to express my feelings.
Q: Can you briefly tell us something about the exhibition ?
A: It is a series related to the European gardens, painted through my memories.
The aim is to celebrate their beauty through their reflection into the water.
Q: What does the water represent to you ? And it is always been present in your works ?
A: The water is a constant element in my works, I’m known as the painter of “waves” and I consider it as the best way to express the energy of life.
When I paint a wave I’m focused on the inside of it trying to stop on the canvas its impetuosity.
I also think that trying to impress people with the impetuosity of the wave can make them reflect upon the importance of this element in our lives.
I have always painted water because I have always been fascinated by its great dynamism, I like to represent on canvas its great capacity of changing.
Q: Do you think that art is a way to educate people about sustainability?
A: Yes of course, for me painting is a way of sending an educational message through beauty.
Q: Can you tell us about your educational activity ? And how much is important for the adults rediscover they creativity ?
A: I brought this French method elaborated by Ginette Martenot in 1930 to Rome more than 30 years ago.
Today we are about 270 ateliers all over Europe applying this same methodology: as a matter of fact, every lesson is identical in all ateliers.
It is not a matter of training painters but is a path aimed at rediscovering the creative potential of students through the study of different techniques and the history of art.
Often people believe they are not meant for art, because there is the common idea that it is something related to a great technical ability but it is not, everyone is able to express themselves through art and this can also be therapeutic.
It is fundamental for an adult to rediscover his creativity, because it becomes both a way of expressing himself and a way to have a deep self discovering… it works as a psychotherapy.
For example you can have a deep understanding of your own interiority by the way you paint a tree: if it is alone or if it is surrounded by other trees, whether it has roots or not, by the colors that you choose, by the type of soil … And it’s from putting all these little things together that the final paint comes out.
At the end of the class people feel better like if they had talked about their emotions for a long time.
Q: From whom did you get inspiration ?
A: I came from the “informal” of the ’70s, where the figure was banned and in that period my main point of reference were Burri and Fontana, then at a more mature age I was influenced mainly by Zao Wou-ki, a French-Chinese painter who was revolutionary in westernizing Oriental art.
Q: How much is important the social message of art for you ?
A: I believe that an artist’s task is to live in his contemporaneity and therefore to be the bearer of a message, a message that in addition to being visual must be symbolic and bring the public to a deeper reflection.
Q: Why did you choose to separate the image in more canvas like medieval polyptychs ?
A: As I told you before I came from the informal and to increase the dynamism of my works I noticed that the break of the image gave a greater sense of movement.
Q: Where does the idea of lighting your paintings with led come from ?
A: It was an experiment for an exhibition in Bologna where for technical needs I could not fragment the canvases and so I needed another way to create the idea of water movement.
Q: Can you tell us more about your experiences abroad ?
A: I am part of the permanent collection of the Farnesina and from there I was invited to exhibit at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg in the International year of the Water and then in Australia.
In Strasbourg I brought the series of gardens and waves, it was a very beautiful experience, while in Australia I only brought waves.
Q: Why there is the total absence of humans in your works ?
A: I don’t know exactly, I’m just more fascinated by the beauty of nature.
Q: Would you define yourself more as an abstractionist or as a modern impressionist?
A: I am always in the balance between abstraction and figurative even if I try to detach myself as much as possible from the latter, so I consider myself more an abstractionist, but there is undoubtedly also a recovery of the figure.
Q: At that point of your life, what do you what for your career?
A: Keep doing what I do: teaching and exploring new ways of artistic expression
Paintings from the exhibition
