WAITING FOR AN ANSWER
TEXT BY ELLEN MAURER
MAURER ZILIOLI GALLERY
WHEN ONE THINKS OF ITALIAN MAJOLICA, WHAT USUALLY COMES TO MIND IS A UTILTARIAN
WARE AND FACADE DECORATION FROM DERUTA, GUBBIO, FAENZA, URBINO AND SO ON.
MOREOVER, THERE HAVE BEEN GREAT MASTERS IN THE MEDIUM: DONATELLO, LUCA AND
ANDREA DELLA ROBBIA, ANTONIO BENINTENDI, SALVATORE DI CORNELIO AND JACOPO DETTO IL
BORRANA, BENEDETTO BUGLIONI, VERROCCHIO ... AND OTHERS, WHOSE WORKS ARE NOTABLE
FOR SACRED AND DECORATIVELY ORNAMENTAL SUBJECT MATTER AND GAVE RISE TO A
FIGURATIVE SCULPTURAL, INDEED QUASI VERNACULAR, AESTHETIC. FAUSTO SALVI'S WORK, ON
THE OTHER HAND, FURNISHES COMPELLING PROOF THAT CONTINUITY CAN BUILD ON THE BASIS
OF THAT RICH AND DISTINGUISHED PAST AND ITALIAN MAJOLICA CAN BE CUTTING EDGE EVEN
IN THE CYBERSPACE AGE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY, TAKING ITS POINT OF DEPARTURE FROM A
YOUNG AESTHETIC THAT IS RESPONSIVE TO CONTEMPORARY ISSUES. FAUSTO SALVI IS ONE OF
ITS LEADING EXPONENTS. A NATIVE OF BRESCIA, THE CERAMICIST (B. 1965) HAS
DEMONSTRATIVELY CREATED A SYMBOLIC EYE, WHICH, PROLIFICALLY DISPERSED, SEEMS TO
USURP, RECONNOITRE, EXPLORE AND OCCUPY SPACE IN INSTALLATIONS THAT GO FROM WALL
TO WALL. THE ARTIST HAS FREED MAJOLICA FROM THE FETTERS OF TRADITION AND FUNCTION
AND LENT IT THE CHARACTER OF AUTONOMOUS SCULPTURAL DESIGN LINKED WITH PAINTERLY
ILLUSTRATIONS THAT ARE METICULOUSLY EXECUTED. APPLIED "AL FRESCO" TO THE CERAMIC
BODY, THEY ATTEST TO AN UTTERLY SURE HAND AND INVIGORATING VERVE. THEY COVER
IRREGULARLY SHAPED SLABS, LOW RELIEFS AND ORGANIC, VEGETAL-LOOKING
CONFIGURATIONS THAT MAY BE UP TO 250 CM HIGH. THESE CONSTRUCTS OR, RATHER,
COMPOSITIONS, REPRESENT ALLUSIONS TO WHAT WERE ORIGINALLY VEGETAL, BIOMORPHIC
OR OTHER SOURCES OF INSPIRATION FROM NATURE DRAWN ON BY THE ARTIST, WHICH,
HOWEVER, HAVE BEEN TRANSFORMED INTO DIGITALLY MANIPULATED, AT TIMES STARTLING
AND DISTURBING TECHNOID FIGURES. THEY LOOK LIKE TREES YET ARE TREES NO LONGER BUT
INSTEAD HAVE ASSUMED THE APPEARANCE OF INDUSTRIALLY INFLUENCED MUTATIONS. IN HIS
PAINTERLY DECOR, SALVI AGAIN REFERS TO THE DISRUPTED COMMUNICATION, URBANITY,
GENETIC ENGINEERING AND GLOBALISATION OF OUR TIMES. HIS MOST RECENT WORKS
REPRESENT CERAMIC SHERDS, WHICH ARE COMPOSED ON VARIOUS SUPPORT SLABS INTO A
FANTASTIC YET DISTURBINGLY REAL, OFTEN IRONICALLY WITTY PICTORIAL PORTRAIT OF
CONTEMPORARY LIVING CONDITIONS. GROTESQUES ("LA GROTTESCA"), ALSO FIRMLY ROOTED
IN ITALIAN ART, COMICS AND GRAFFITI, AS WELL AS ASIAN AND PREHISTORIC SOURCES OF
INSPIRATION HAVE SHAPED SALVI'S PERCEPTION AND HIS INTERPRETATION OF MAJOLICA.
DRAWING AND THE ELEMENT OF COLOUR OF COURSE PLAY A CRUCIAL ROLE, COUPLED WITH A
SURREAL, STYLISING FORMAL LANGUAGE, TWO FACTORS THAT ARE PARTICULAR HALLMARKS
OF HIS HIGHLY EXPRESSIVE AESTHETIC. FAUSTO SALVI TRAINED AT THE ISTITUTO STATALE
D'ARTE IN GARGNANO ON LAKE GARDA AND IN FAENZA, WHERE HE HAS ALSO TAUGHT FOR
EXTENDED PERIODS. NOW THE ARTIST COMMUTES BETWEEN NEW YORK, BERLIN, MILAN AND
LONDON. HE HAS PARTICIPATED IN NUMEROUS SYMPOSIUMS, EXHIBITIONS AND COMPETITIONS
IN FAENZA, GMUNDEN, VALLAURIS, CAROUGE, IN KOREA, TAIWAN, JAPAN AND ARGENTINA. IN
2005 AND 2006 HE ENJOYED BEING AN ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE AT NEW YORK UNIVERSITY AND AT
THE ESTONIAN ACCADEMY OF FINE ART IN TALLIN, ESTONIA. AFTER EXPERIENCING
WORKSHOPS IN FAENZA, BUENOS AIRES, BRESCIA AND MILAN, HE HAS FOR THE TIME BEING
OPTED FOR A MOBILE EXISTENCE, AN ITINERANT WAY OF LIFE, AS IT WERE, WITH SHORT-TERM
ACTIVITIES IN VARIOUS CITIES AND CENTRES OF CONTEMPORARY CERAMICS. IT IS NO
COINCIDENCE THAT HE CHOSE "WAITING FOR AN ANSWER" AS THE TITLE OF THE PRESENT
EXHIBITION AS AN ALLUSION TO THE PAST TWO YEARS HE HAS SPENT TRAVELLING AROUND
THE WORLD IN SEARCH OF AN ANSWER TO HIS PERSONAL SITUATION AND TO WHAT HIS
FUTURE RESEARCH INTO ART MIGHT ENTAIL. THE ANSWER MAY POSSIBLY BE FOUND IN THE
WORKS EXHIBITED HERE AND WE CERTAINLY APPRECIATE OUR GOOD FORTUNE IN BEING IN A
POSITION TO SHOW THEM IN THE VERY REGION WHERE FAUSTO SALVI BEGAN HIS CAREER AS A
YOUNG ARTIST.