Belardinelli
Perfection, completion these things seem to me to be over-rated in a world where seldom, save the rich and the young, can scarcely find a moment to reflect. How can our sights be set so high to a place or plain as to seek deities? The honorable truth is this, our humanity; our frail shattered fractured humanity is glorious. In its imperfection and in its depravity and in all of its shortness and shortcomings is wholeness.
In our awareness of weakness is our strength, in our inability to scale the heights we fly. We fly above the clouds, above our own inadequacies and our own shortcomings. We dare, we try, and we who are so frail become unstoppable and do the unthinkable and often the impossible.
We are not gods, nor artists, not even special…we are merely wanderers and wonderers who bravely and dangerously venture on canvas into unknown realms with the hope to find a place that will satisfy our own desire to hide. We look for a safe house that we can call home. There is no such place short of our imaginations, but there we find and create our respite, our safety, and our courage next to the fire.
Artists are for the most part a resilient bunch, elastic; they bounce back because the alternatives are not pretty. We are ordinary folk who like beer and not pretension, most artists despise pretense. Many are optimistic, it is not that today if the first day of one’s life, most are too old for that kind of thinking but freshness and a beginner’s eye is always welcomed. A true artist is too easily bored to think they have arrived! They have no desire to be pegged with a style…unless you are talking about their clothing.
Each new canvas is like a quest, not to conquer but to create. We live in fantasy and we live by faith. This is not the life for the timid or those seeking securities. No, go elsewhere, anywhere else is safer and more secure. This is the life of the dreamer and the adventurer, this is the realm of magic and mystery where power and wonder is very close AND very far away.
It is not for the arrogant or the lazy. This is the life of the worker and the builder. All kinds of wonders can be brought to life, children, ideas, and worlds not yet seen. The artist has his or her own language and words, shapes and colors that speak to the heart, psyche, soul and spirit. A great artist is a great orator and a master at the human temperament and dreamscape.
Furthermore an artist is equal to the sum of his or her experience and can become as much of a tool as his own tools. To a muse a surrendered artist can become a brush and in his or her looseness he or she can create the makings of magic and wonder. We call these works ‘inspired’ and even some times ‘genius.’
I know of such a genius! He is a very clever man, well connected, astute and talented, his name is Daniel Belardinelli. I enjoy his work. I love it. He is whimsical and light even with the darkest of subjects. Daniel can be dramatic but he never does so without a hint of humor. He reminds me of the business man who cannot resist a dash of color or daring in his dress.
It is as if he could fly, his imagination has no boundaries. I have no idea of where he pulls his images. I am sure like most artists he has absorbed much but he takes thing further than most and one is forced to wonder if he driven or directed by a muse. Surely his work has references to many cultures. One cannot look at the ALIEN HORN and not wonder if this is not a relic from Mexico or Guatemala; it is reminiscent of a Machocabrio or Diablo mask. In a similar piece BORN INTO THIS we see the child like nature of the artist. He is fresh and always maintains the beginner’s eye. Here is a self portrait that looks like an ol’ baseball mitt. The Prussian blue describing the fingers (it is his hair really, but bare with me for it is surely his hand). He is like a newborn discovering himself and the situation in which he has found himself. He’s an artist, oh my! Like the lyrics of the Talking Heads in ‘Once in a Lifetime’ you can hear the befuddled artist, you can hear him say, “this is not my beautiful house…this is not my beautiful wife.” It is as if he has awaked from a dream and realized his situation. There he is in the middle of the field and the ball is coming right at him, surely it will hit him squarely in the face! He is befuddled and very much afraid. Even as a child who sees and recognizes his own hand for the first time. Daniel is seeing the power in it. What a realization to understand that he has the whole world in his hand and in it he also has the power to make new ones. He wants to run from this fate, his fate. Fearful indeed and with good cause, yet there is a little comfort the happy little green snake says relax. He smiles and is happy and suggests the water is fine. Don’t fear, you catch the ball, it won’t hurt you. He throws up his hands and wants to shout, STOP! But he cannot, the ball has been launched, he is in the field and he has put himself out there. So he must catch the ball. I presume this painting represents the fear all artists have of critics, but in a bigger sense it represents the fear we all know and have of the unknown. We are frightfully afraid and if it were not for the few small kind voices we would surely run away in our fear. So Daniel stands realizing his destiny.
I could go on in great detail explaining the wonderful talent Daniel has in stylizing animals and things or his ability to create great complex works of art that are nothing short of wonderful dreamscapes, stories and wonders, but to me the most prudent thing I could do is to suggest for you to go look at his work. Look at it with a beginner’s eye. Ask yourself how he can take such muted and dull colors and make them bright, he makes gray into light, that a magic trick few know how to do, or what are the meanings of these great pieces. And what do they mean to you? That is what an art show is and should be about.
I look at his work and am amazed, I see wonder and joy, pain and comedy, laughter and cunning, lostness and wisdom, demons and gods. You know there are many tests for great art and Mr. Belardinelli’s work passes them all. One of my favorite tests is, will this piece of art make for me a good friend, one that will always delight and please me, entertain me and take care of me? Each and every piece that I have seen passes this test easily. They are great wonders and will make for some lucky person or museum a great friend. I envy those lucky people. I suggest you enjoy the show. Shows like these do not come every day!
Bob Bruman
In our awareness of weakness is our strength, in our inability to scale the heights we fly. We fly above the clouds, above our own inadequacies and our own shortcomings. We dare, we try, and we who are so frail become unstoppable and do the unthinkable and often the impossible.
We are not gods, nor artists, not even special…we are merely wanderers and wonderers who bravely and dangerously venture on canvas into unknown realms with the hope to find a place that will satisfy our own desire to hide. We look for a safe house that we can call home. There is no such place short of our imaginations, but there we find and create our respite, our safety, and our courage next to the fire.
Artists are for the most part a resilient bunch, elastic; they bounce back because the alternatives are not pretty. We are ordinary folk who like beer and not pretension, most artists despise pretense. Many are optimistic, it is not that today if the first day of one’s life, most are too old for that kind of thinking but freshness and a beginner’s eye is always welcomed. A true artist is too easily bored to think they have arrived! They have no desire to be pegged with a style…unless you are talking about their clothing.
Each new canvas is like a quest, not to conquer but to create. We live in fantasy and we live by faith. This is not the life for the timid or those seeking securities. No, go elsewhere, anywhere else is safer and more secure. This is the life of the dreamer and the adventurer, this is the realm of magic and mystery where power and wonder is very close AND very far away.
It is not for the arrogant or the lazy. This is the life of the worker and the builder. All kinds of wonders can be brought to life, children, ideas, and worlds not yet seen. The artist has his or her own language and words, shapes and colors that speak to the heart, psyche, soul and spirit. A great artist is a great orator and a master at the human temperament and dreamscape.
Furthermore an artist is equal to the sum of his or her experience and can become as much of a tool as his own tools. To a muse a surrendered artist can become a brush and in his or her looseness he or she can create the makings of magic and wonder. We call these works ‘inspired’ and even some times ‘genius.’
I know of such a genius! He is a very clever man, well connected, astute and talented, his name is Daniel Belardinelli. I enjoy his work. I love it. He is whimsical and light even with the darkest of subjects. Daniel can be dramatic but he never does so without a hint of humor. He reminds me of the business man who cannot resist a dash of color or daring in his dress.
It is as if he could fly, his imagination has no boundaries. I have no idea of where he pulls his images. I am sure like most artists he has absorbed much but he takes thing further than most and one is forced to wonder if he driven or directed by a muse. Surely his work has references to many cultures. One cannot look at the ALIEN HORN and not wonder if this is not a relic from Mexico or Guatemala; it is reminiscent of a Machocabrio or Diablo mask. In a similar piece BORN INTO THIS we see the child like nature of the artist. He is fresh and always maintains the beginner’s eye. Here is a self portrait that looks like an ol’ baseball mitt. The Prussian blue describing the fingers (it is his hair really, but bare with me for it is surely his hand). He is like a newborn discovering himself and the situation in which he has found himself. He’s an artist, oh my! Like the lyrics of the Talking Heads in ‘Once in a Lifetime’ you can hear the befuddled artist, you can hear him say, “this is not my beautiful house…this is not my beautiful wife.” It is as if he has awaked from a dream and realized his situation. There he is in the middle of the field and the ball is coming right at him, surely it will hit him squarely in the face! He is befuddled and very much afraid. Even as a child who sees and recognizes his own hand for the first time. Daniel is seeing the power in it. What a realization to understand that he has the whole world in his hand and in it he also has the power to make new ones. He wants to run from this fate, his fate. Fearful indeed and with good cause, yet there is a little comfort the happy little green snake says relax. He smiles and is happy and suggests the water is fine. Don’t fear, you catch the ball, it won’t hurt you. He throws up his hands and wants to shout, STOP! But he cannot, the ball has been launched, he is in the field and he has put himself out there. So he must catch the ball. I presume this painting represents the fear all artists have of critics, but in a bigger sense it represents the fear we all know and have of the unknown. We are frightfully afraid and if it were not for the few small kind voices we would surely run away in our fear. So Daniel stands realizing his destiny.
I could go on in great detail explaining the wonderful talent Daniel has in stylizing animals and things or his ability to create great complex works of art that are nothing short of wonderful dreamscapes, stories and wonders, but to me the most prudent thing I could do is to suggest for you to go look at his work. Look at it with a beginner’s eye. Ask yourself how he can take such muted and dull colors and make them bright, he makes gray into light, that a magic trick few know how to do, or what are the meanings of these great pieces. And what do they mean to you? That is what an art show is and should be about.
I look at his work and am amazed, I see wonder and joy, pain and comedy, laughter and cunning, lostness and wisdom, demons and gods. You know there are many tests for great art and Mr. Belardinelli’s work passes them all. One of my favorite tests is, will this piece of art make for me a good friend, one that will always delight and please me, entertain me and take care of me? Each and every piece that I have seen passes this test easily. They are great wonders and will make for some lucky person or museum a great friend. I envy those lucky people. I suggest you enjoy the show. Shows like these do not come every day!
Bob Bruman
 |
 |
