Giancarlo Bonomo - Gianfranco Paulli Sculptor

Sculpture is the most tangible expression of reality, of a dimension that reveals itself in a meaningful way in the volume of a form and in the consistency of perceivable physical weight. Sculptures ensue from drawings which, in turn, directly express an idea that comes from the inner self and directs the reasons behind the creation of the artwork. Sculpture can be identified with the tangible solidity of matter, the way it relates to the force of gravity and, ultimately, how difficult it is to mould it to suit our creative will.

 

Commenting a lofty definition by Michelangelo ( '…quell'arte che si fa per forza di levare', i.e. '…that art that is performed by taking away'), Giorgio Vasari claimed that a sculptor's task is to remove all the superfluous material from a block of marble, meaning that a work of art is already present in the mind of its creator before it is physically made. Thus, the artist's work is based on ideas but also on physical exertion paired with the determination that supports the motivations of the heart and mind. All these characteristics and inclinations belong to Gianfranco Paulli, like a sort of inevitable calling that has determined the course of his life and has earned him renowned success amongst critics and institutions alike. Indeed, the attention of important official clients is precisely what created the idea of patronage - a fundamental part of our artistic tradition whose roots can be traced back to an age that precedes the Renaissance - around his figure.

 

Heavy matter indissolvably halts an emotional moment - linked here to the dimension of Love or to the symbol of Virtue – making it definitely and endlessly present in a three-dimensional object one can actually touch. Although he works with the realistic weightiness of materials, like an alchemist of art this sculptor manages to impart the evanescent delicacy of dreams to them and, generally speaking, an ideality that is nowadays increasingly more suffocated by the restlessness of everyday life which lacks values and reference points. His expressive inspirations originate from intense and deep-felt contemplation.

A strong driving force in Paulli is the wonder he experiences before creation and its creatures: the female figure, for instance, supreme inspirer of the arts of all time, in her most typical representation removes her earthly vestments to wear the sublime and invisible garments of the astral plane. In this context, the supreme presence of the divine being can be sensed and is revealed in the anatomical details or in the hardly-perceivable palpitations of marble, resembling living flesh that cannot die. Paulli's sculptures are apparitions from a "different" life that runs parallel to ours. They are visions similar to thoughts and feelings sculpted forever; they hold the authentic meaning of our human experience beyond the objects, things or mental infrastructures that govern everyday life.

 

There is still room for Poetry in Paulli's world. Bodies divest themselves, not only of their tangible garments but also of the burden of meaningless things, of useless objects and of the appearances that want to conceal the ultimate truth of life that can be found beyond the body, in the Soul. Silent figures illuminated by an unreachable kindness display the perfect humbleness of naked feet while their hands seek contact and their eyes remain half-closed in the sublime intensity of a poised instant. Paulli intercepts gentle and unrepeatable moments, making us yearn for inner peace. Here, at last, at the end of a hard day, our thoughts can rest and, next to those crystallized figures of rare beauty, we can breathe in deeply the scent of a Sentimentality we thought was lost.