The painter of inland areas Fernando Mangone at the Venice Biennale
Great recognition for the artist from Altavilla Silentina
Extraordinary artist, Fernando Mangone. An artist at three hundred and sixty degrees and not only for the great results achieved, but also for his way of understanding and conceiving life, existence, interpersonal relationships. A visionary artist, whose works are a continuous emotion of vibrations of lights and colors. Fernando Mangone was born in Altavilla Silentina (Campania), a country that he “Dionysian”, among strong smells, joyful cries of children and animals who lived with men. Bewitched by Rock music and the warm colors of the Flemish painters whom he loves to study, he embarks as a child, fifty years ago, his career as an artist and from Naples to Florence to Holland, he also gains fame by working with major brands. He proclaims himself “a stray”, rebellious to any attempt to harness his creativity, albeit animated by a delicacy in the approach with his neighbor that has made him a sincere friend with half the world.
Fernando Alfonso Mangone says: “I am a disobedient, one who overturns the rules. How can you teach art, madness? “. Because words are not needed, because painting itself speaks. It is testimony. The visionary Mangone first enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples, then at that of Catanzaro and then at that of Florence, where he finished his studies with full marks. Already from this continuous oscillation, from these sudden and unpredictable changes of direction, the character of Mangone begins to emerge, increasingly dissatisfied with the present, all aimed at other worlds and other goals. Already from these premises his nomadic and rebellious spirit begins to reveal itself, traveler and “traversal” of towns and cities, to breathe new and clean air, different, made above all of emotion and freedom. Thus, already as a student, he began an intense exhibition activity that developed mainly between Florence and Rome. In this phase, collaborative relationships with important personalities of international culture come to life and among these the one with the poet and writer from Piacenza Aldo Braibanti who later, together with Barbara Tosi, will become curator of his various exhibitions at the Italian Institute of Amsterdam culture.
Italy, however, places him tight and so Fernando Mangone decides to leave to look for other, other destinations, other landing places. During his long wanderings around Europe we find him in Paris, London, Berlin and then in other European cities: passionate about music, he follows with great interest the great masters of Rock and Punk: the Rolling Stones, Genesis , Qeen, Pink Floyd etc. immortalizing them in gigantic billboards that, for a long time, form the backdrop to landscapes and glimpses of famous metropolises. Then comes the Dutch period, full of work and full of satisfaction. He paints in Amsterdam, The Hague and Groningen where he keeps large and comfortable ateliers. In The Hague, his studio is located inside an old Ministry of Defense, in front of the Italian Embassy and from here all his artistic activity starts and develops: here he executes his extraordinary urban views and then off, to the streets of the city to perform large and immense murals which, even today, document his stay in the land of Holland and his interesting path.
Fernando Mangone, therefore, like Basquiat, Haring, Hirst and Bansksy, rebel and revolutionary who, shunning museums, galleries and commercial events, begins to paint on the walls of subway stations, in parks and on buildings, bringing art to the streets and in between to people to tell about life and to be, to the end, a faithful witness of his time and days.
“Between heaven and earth, a journey through history and the next beauty” is the title of Fernando Mangone’s solo exhibition at the Armando Lanza Art Gallery in Pietrasanta. Saturday, April 30th, at 4.30 pm, the inauguration of the exhibition which coincides with another major event of global importance, the 59th edition of the “Venice International Art Biennale” where, here too , Fernando Mangone is among the protagonists.
One of his important works, “Masque”, in fact, starting from 23 April will be exhibited in the “Grenada” Pavilion within the “Identity Collective”, a group of artists formed for the occasion. How could Fernando Mangone, a great “trader” of cities and countries and internationally renowned “street-artist”, not feel the call of the Tuscan land? The meeting with Armando Lanza, cultured and enlightened gallerist of this city, was fundamental and, fascinated by the strong expression of the Campania artist, decided to call him to be part of his ambitious and important projects.
And so, after this important personal exhibition, where Mangone will present an exhaustive overview of his production and its themes (mythology, history, portraiture and contemporary visions with a particular attention to Pietrasanta, Florence, Pisa, Siena, Arezzo, Livorno etc. ) here he is ready to inaugurate the new space reserved for him. On an area of over thousand square meters, an exhibition center dedicated to contemporary art, conceived and wanted by Armando Lanza, the Altavilla artist will set up five Pavilions, divided by theme, of his thirty and complex production: an extraordinary opportunity to enter the magical world of this volcanic artist, in his shapes and colors, to make us enveloped by his lights, his textures and his paths. With the presence of Fernando Mangone, Pietrasanta is thus enriched with a new, great character, a new, great preparation: awaiting and in upcoming important events