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Painting as a mirror of the soul

Roberto Romoli

‘’Turning thought into pictoric concreteness’’ and communicating it through ‘’shape and colour’’ is the desire that moves the hand of every artist, but that for Roberto Romoli represent a firm point to assert and follow scrupulously. That does credit to him and confirms how seriously and professionally Roberto is following his artistic path, begun in the 70’s with the attendance of the ‘’Piccola Accademia di pittura di Don Stefani’’ and prosecuted with lessons of art nude, from which he came out with an expertise who leaded him to fund, together with some other collegues, the Studio 7, an active foundry of various creativity and common intents. Romoli remembers that experience, still existing, with pleasure as well as nostalgy, and with a moved thought to master Mario Mugnai, recently passed, from  which Romoli received teaching and close friendship.

’Nothing, Nothing is really the ultimate goal of life, and only life is value to live. Art is not only an object to expose, art is mostly an attempt to live’’. With those intents Studio 7 goes in the society, opening up itself to people, to their problems, and listening to their questions, in order to promote cultural occasions, as a way to aggregate human beings. Romoli kept faith with these ideals, putting them into his picting and etched engraving, of which he is a finest master. Through an iconographic alphabet, sometimes cryptic – you can easily read once entered his point of view- Romoli analyzes every single part of our world, of our behaviour and of our feelings. Though various and important, bad things in our society seems curable because his brush indicates for each one of them the right remedy. It is necessary believing firmly and committing hard at it, like Roberto does, because the answer is always inside of us.

Artist teaches us how life is strong, what invincible strength we can find in every human being, in a rose which resists to the desert’s dryness, in a tender plant born on a high rock, that twines round to survive, telling to us that life is born and grows everywhere and anyway.

But concreteness goes hand in hand with emotions, that like fragile soap bubbles, have to pass across a dark tunnel before reaching light, facing a long and difficult course, a course fulfilled by the hope and the joy to arrive. Like the hope of a perfect society, symbolized by a chessboard floor on which some old books lay, books worn thin by the time that doesn’t go on and waits that education is rediscovered, although computer is an irreplaceable part of our lives by now. But when emotions can’t be given vent, they remain wordless, blocked by an invincible barrier.

Recurrent symbols can be found in Romoli’s paintings as the egg, element of life, which empties itself because it rejects our corrupted society. A society pollinated by the butterfly – that represents money- which sucks poppy. But hope, fragrant rose that wither the one with the prickly stalk, continually sping up, and from conscience a shoot of olive tree flourish once again.

Then there is the emotion related to the remembrance of trips in places where ancient peoples left their signs, of which you can feel its fascination distinctly in the air.

Roberto Romoli’s art diligently spreads itself over well structured creative mainstreams, touching any theme of our everyday life, in order to examine it thoroughly through an expressive key taken by surrealism. An expressive key which has few in common with oniric thing, because it is actually inspired by reality and rationality, that sublime themselves into imagination. In his works nothing, even the smallest detail, is left to chance. Any element has its precise significance and everything represents exactly what the artist wants to document and about which he wants focus his attention, launching his message of denunciation and reflection. A message never shouted or emphatised, but always given politely and clearly, with the (utopic) consciousness of the man who knows that art, universal way of communication, can make up minds, just like music, that Roberto Romoli celebrates in some ot his works, representing a violin put on an old broken pillar, and notes that come out from a five-line stave and spread out in the air.

Every single work of Romoli, both pictoric and engraving, is  a mirror of  his soul. They tell us about a world and surprise us for the  uninexahustible clever fantasy , for the perfect and extremely elaborate tecnique, for the perfect formal and perspective output. A very high quality, also valuable in his intense portraits, of profound and moving psychological introspection.  A refinement that turns itself into elegance of particulars, not just to astonish, but to make us to reflect about our behaviour, about real values of existance.

Roberto Romoli is always there to remember us about that, with his presence, discreet and careful in every work, he that light and small hovers in the sky hung to an air balloon, to tell us that life is beautiful.

Gabriella Gentilini