Lucio Bernardi - Untitled

The human figure has always been at the center of artistic research. Since the classical age, the naturalistic rendering of human anatomy has been a primary goal of painters and sculptors throughout history. The representation of the nude is the ultimate expression of this aspiration, pervasive across all eras and stylistic trends. Indeed, in addition to the naturalistic interpretations of the Renaissance and various classicisms, which aimed for a truthful and detailed representation of the human body, the nude has also been a central theme in the new aesthetic concepts brought about by the historical avant-garde movements, such as Cubism, Expressionism, and Surrealism.

Even in his graphic works, Lucio Bernardi fully embraces his highly elaborate aesthetic. The fundamental component of his work is an objectivity rooted in a "magical realism" that straddles the everyday and the surreal. Along these lines, Bernardi has constructed his own pictorial world, interpreting the exaltation of plastic values ​​typical of objective figurative languages ​​in a decidedly sarcastic and lighthearted manner. Thus, his works are populated by his unmistakable characters, and the dryness of his style, which would normally create a cold and metaphysical atmosphere, is completely tempered by this cheerful and serene aesthetic. Everything then becomes a vivid representation of the joy of living and happiness in the little things, where even the ever-present irony is indulgent and free of moralistic pretensions.

Born in 1919, Bernardi began his career in the vibrant Santarcangelo artistic scene of the late 1940s, fueled by Tonino Guerra, Federico Moroni, and Giulio Turci, and frequented by Alberto Sughi, Marcello Muccini, and Renzo Vespignani, among others. Since 1956, he has had a ceramics workshop on Via dei Nobili in Santarcangelo. He exhibited in Milan in 1964 and 1969, in Bologna and New York in 1965, and in Bari in 1989. From the mid-1960s, he became interested in printmaking, participating with other Santarcangelo artists in group exhibitions in Belgrade and Mostar. While continuing to draw, paint in oils and watercolors—ironic portraits of scantily clad female figures, posed groups, and still lifes—Bernardi exploited unusual materials to create highly evocative "inventions." This is how collages are born with old papers, three-dimensional faces and figures, painted river stones and small and curious sculptures.

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