critical text by Angelo Di Bella
Ever since I was a child, I was struck by the tenacity of this small, great man, who every day, alone , in his studio, painted canvas after canvas , constantly seeking the balance between half-lights and half-shadows . As a true Italian master, his feelings resonate with the artists Morandi, Carrà, and Soffici .
In Mario Di Bella , there is a struggle against the darkness of matter, a battle that seems to happen not inside the work, but before it.
The thousand nuances of his tones reveal Mario Di Bella poetic and, I dare say, innovative . From painting to painting, he invents an ever-renewing space, being a poet of matter . This takes him beyond an ultimate threshold of expression Beauty , Mystery, the Absolute made of silence reside his landscapes and still lifes , it seems as if the works themselves are looking back at us, casting a glance inside us, greater and more powerful than our own on them. This is the enduring strength of great Art , made of simplicity, which makes Mario Di Bella an authentic artist . Until his last days, he questioned the concept of Beauty .
Mario Di Bella 's painting is an intimate expression , the result of intense and solitary , full of feeling for the most common and ordinary things: a low wall, a dirt road, a country cottage surrounded by shady poplars, a jug, a vase of fruit . His vocation for absolute sincerity and his poetic vision of reality give his works expressive power. The colors of his canvases, from ethereal and marine blues to vermilions and restrained greens , right through to sad browns, milky whites, and silver grays , are always brought to the subtlety .
Mario Di Bella 's artistic research could be defined as a metaphysics of the concrete . He explores a sober and rustic reality, where sunlight becomes diaphanous in the open spaces of the solitary countryside , in every patch of horizon of cobalt ultramarine blue .
Press release:
Mario Di Bella Retrospective: "The Human Essence of Painting"
The MDB Foundation is pleased to present a retrospective of Mario Di Bella Turi Di Bella and featuring a critical essay by Angelo Di Bella the exhibition offers a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the pictorial universe of this extraordinary artist.
Dates: July 15 to September 29, 2024
Location: Via N. Paganini 1, Trecastagni, Catania
Opening hours:
Admission is free, by appointment only . For reservations and further information, please fill out the form or contact the MDB Foundation by email: mdbfoundation.isla@gmail.com.
Press Office:
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