SANTE MONACHESI

SANTE MONACHESI
FONDAZIONE ROMA MUSEO
September 21- October 24 2010
http://www.fondazioneromamuseo.it/it/611.html

by Kirila Cvetkovska


By exhibiting concerns with industrialization and new technologies, Sante Monachesi provides his own space at the Fondazione Roma Museum. At the same time, this is a celebration of the centenary of his birth and exposition of his unique artistic approach and individuality. The actual exhibition, over few rooms, reveals Monachesi’s transitional stages with regard to subject matter: from technological development to nude women and nightlife.
Sante Monachesi (born in 1910 in Macerata, Italy- 1991, Rome) is a well- known Italian futurist painter and sculptor, famous for his engagement in experimentation. After the Second World War, he was concerned with the issue of construction (specifically in Paris), using only simple forms and pure colors for its representation. As the troubles of war were slowly fading away, Monachesi became more interested in social events. He started depicting provocative topics, painting nude women and pleasures of nightlife. Finally, he was also affected by the technological progress and his works of art were based on matters of speed and the victory of humankind over nature. Besides painting, Monachesi is known for experimenting with aluminum and sculptures encompassing primary shapes.
All of these practices are revealed in Monachesi’s works exhibited at the Fondazione Roma Museum. For instance, in Parigi (1947), Monachesi presents a part of Paris, only by imposing rectangular shapes as “blank walls” or buildings. Additionally, he places a house at the lower right part of the painting, in its simplest form. Monachesi depicts these figures with pure colors (red, yellow, green, black and white) and there is an impression that they go up in the sky, with no clear ending point. This painting represents the phase of construction, reflecting its primal significance. Moreover, its abstract aspect allows viewers to use their imagination and wonder what happens beyond the “blank walls”.


The second room is filled with paintings from the period of Monachesi’s engagement in social subject matters. In La cabala (1953), Monachesi reveals a scene from the nightlife, incorporating a dose of mystery and intrigue. He displays two women with mystifying facial expressions, sitting at a table in a bar and having a drink. The women are the central figures, carefully integrated in the whole setting. All of the figures and objects in the painting are presented in their simplest form, without any detailed identification. They are painted in pure colors and convey a vivacious atmosphere. This is an image of an ordinary occasion and a genuine reflection of the tiny bits that bring pleasure of living.
Regarding the technological progress, the painting Aerei in picchiata (1941), placed in the third room of the exhibiton, exposes a scenery with airplanes and implies the development of humanity. There is one airplane as the central object in the painting, whereas all the others are not clearly painted and only facilitate the dynamics of the whole piece. Monachesi uses flowing brushstrokes, which indicate the matter of speed and bring in lively ambiance, painted in dark colors.
The experimentation with aluminum is also one of the key points in Monachesi’s artistic career. For instance, in Il suonatore d’arpa (1930), he presents a harp player, made in aluminum and in its basic shape. However, he uses straight and curving forms all at once, reaching a contrast and vitality. These forms are perplexed one into each other, and though they exhibit more of an abstract aspect, they still settle the core of the work in its finest mode.
Sante Monachesi challenges many conventions of the period he lives in. The transitions of his subject matter indicate the social changes of that time and the significance of certain discoveries. He balances between the scientific and the communal pleasures, presenting them clearly and with simple forms. Accordingly, by relying on a more of an abstract facet, Monachesi allows the viewers to attain their own, unique interpretation of each work of art and stimulates their world of imagination.