The Theme
Serving a greater purpose

 
Currently at Montefalco, there is an exhibition of paintings by a selection of local artists. Among them is Paolo Porzi, a retired school master, whom I have met recently. His paintings are curious. They are mostly of views - ordinary views. If no one had ever painted views before, these would be regarded as extraordinary but unfortunately we come to art exhibitions with many layers of perception filters. One of mine is a certain prejudice against Impressionism. I don't quite know why I have this but I can't help the sense of boredom that creeps in when looking at an impressionist work. Perhaps that feeling pleases some people but not me.

Paolo's paintings owe something to impressionism. There is a way of deploying the paint on the canvas to capture a certain essence rather than details but the difference is in how Paolo avoids making his objects seem merely out of focus.

He paints views inside towns, buildings in the countryside, boats moored in lagoons and he has a nice touch with water. I saw what looked like abstract splashes of yellow and green to reveal, on closer inspection, a night time town view. The views all have two things in common, their plainness, and there are no people in them.

Paolo suggested that I could accompany him to Montefalco set up a few pieces for another artist. This was a triptych made up of patterns of white, grey, red and black: somewhat bleak, these.

I meandered about all the paintings, trying to look at each one. There wasn't one that really grabbed me. It's no wonder that people are losing faith in art. One could see that they were all competent technicians but were they artists? Besides their individual qualities, there was something a little empty about the event itself. And it seems to have something to do with the absence of that force that would push these mediocre offering to high art. By contrast Renaissance art, whether practised by the great masters or their followers, shows a consensus of thematic conviction: a sense that they are serving a greater purpose than just painting itself.