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Dirarte
Via San Carlo 11, 81100 Caserta
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Italy
Tel.++39 0823 441126
Hours: Tue.-Sat. 4pm-8pm
Contact: Angelo Marino
E-mail: marino.caserta@tin.it
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Mafonso Plus Ultra
On December 30, 2001 in Piazza Carlo III at the Palazzo Reale in Caserta, Mafonso inaugurated his latest piece, Plus Ultra, which remained in place for a month. Financed by the city of Caserta and endorsed by the Supervisory Arts Council of Caserta and Benevento, the project was curated by art critic Professor Francesco Gallo. Initially the brainchild of the Dirarte gallery, the venture was greatly helped by the collaboration and contribution of the CO.GE.IN Consortium As representative of the city of Caserta, mayor Dr. Luigi Falco wished to commission a work of contemporary art that would serve as a reflection on the indisputably epic era of change through which today’s society is living. To fulfill this task he turned to Mafonso as one of the leading figures at the cutting edge of contemporary art during the last thirty years. Perhaps art cannot make the world a better place but artists can certainly help to shake us up, to make us think, and to make us look at the world around us with a critical, rather than a unquestioning, eye. The result is a painted work, triangular in shape (12 m. x 5 m.), and resembling a sail—a symbol of movement and hence of progress. Onto this foundation the artist has drawn some of the highly personal ancient/archetypal designs so characteristic of his oeuvre. The following commentary by Francesco Gallo précises the aesthetic/intellectual meaning of Mafonso’s work: “Mafonso’s Plus Ultra is a symbol of dedication. The destiny of theory of Truth. It is the place of art which dreams of the world. And while it dreams of the world, it traverses it, roaming from place to place. Like a mystery that discloses itself, sheathed in adventure’s robes. It is the trouncing of every obstacle, turned into a trampoline. It is sailing before the wind, with no holds barred. Casting aside every forbidden action, every censure. In the favor of seeing, feeling, tasting, touching. Of love, in essence! Never waylaid by tiredness, like the Ulysses of Dante, but riding on the good luck of Homer’s with the complexity of Joyce’s. Plus ultra, as the Knowledge. The artist said. Giving orders to the wind, speaking to the world, daring the sirens, confusing the monsters that lurk at every turn, both without us, but also within. To the very depths, for a banquet of beauty, of truth, of Venus’ soft curves, of Apollo’s white forehead, enjoying himself as well, but with his wider outlook upon the proclamation of the new. (...)”
A short biography of Mafonso:
Born in Frattaminore (Naples) in 1948, the artist was self-taught and began working in the early ’70s, living between Switzerland (Altdorf) and Italy (Rome - Milan). During these years he created a series of works (Alla maniera degli Altri) in which the fundamental conceit was to reclaim the handmade artifact by means of an instinctive/lyrical/primitive painting technique, following the ideology of the post-modern aesthetic. Adopting Leonardo da Vinci’s view that painting is a “cosa mentale,” or something that requires mental effort, he also found inspiration in Pablo Picasso, Massimo Campigli, Giorgio De Chirico, and Piet Mondrian (his early work). He was one of the founding members of the Cosa Mentale group, led by Maurizio Fagiolo Dell’Arco, between 1977 and 1978 in Rome. In 1979, he permanently relocated to Rome, where he spent his time with the so-called Italian Pop artists (Tano Festa, Franco Angeli, Mario Schifano), developing not only friendships with these artists (Tano Festa in particular), but a highly stimulating environment of cultural “confrontation.” The fruits of these years were the cycles La Dea Racconto, Le Grandi Strade Piene, I Racconti Solari, and Le Prime Nevi of post-2000. In 1985 he relocated again, this time to Caserta, where he completed the cycles Simbad, Krakatoa, and Lune di Arqa. In Paris from 1988-1989, he worked on the Make-Make cycle, creating also the book of the same name for the New Art International Publications, presented by the publisher at the Pompidou Center. This was followed by the cycles: Tribù in esodo (1992/1993), Contano solo i Cieli (1993/1994), Nevicate Acide (1995), Vanno Tutti Verso il Nulla (1997/1998), and Deserti (1995/2001). He has held solo shows in most major European cities, including: Rome, Milan, Paris, London, Madrid, Naples, and Barcelona.
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Plus Ultra
2001
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