I think that his painting is of great
interest and quality. On the one hand, the
technique quite traditional and a conscious
dose of "the painter's job" (including the
smell of turpentine and the "physicality" of
an oil painting). I recognize touches of the
best tradition of STRIP CARTOON ART, mixed
on the one hand with an expressive
aggression by a "writer" and the other (and
this is the point!) with a secular Tuscan
tradition of meticulous drawing, an innate
sense of composition, structure always in a
correct relationship between narrative and
image. Here, a "virtual tour" seems to be
able to recognize this distinctive feature:
a painting of everything "contemporary" (not
only in the subject matter, but also in the
atmosphere, in its discomfort, in its
intensity), supported by an expressive form
which is truly "Classic ", in which each
element that creates the image is combined
with a togetherness that sustains the all
with great effectiveness.
Stefano Zuffi
REVIEW BY MARIO ROCCHI
In the landscape of contemporary art, it is
increasingly rare to find a painter. That is, find a
creative spirit who wants to take a risk with
canvases and brushes.
The conceptual art, for which the artistic
expression is not so much represented by the
creation of an artistic timeless object than from an
event which fell through time and space, a concept
certainly relevant to a world that is evolving
quickly and that rejects the so-called traditional
art which is judged to be old, leading to a
mystification of the concept by amateurish labourers
who lends themselves to generate the postmodern
rhetoric. Then along come young painters like
Francesco Federighi who refuse to go with the spirit
of some trivial installations, but commits himself
to the creation of a painting, where even the value
of form, composition and brushwork shows integrity.
This painter from Lucca, extremely sensitive to
social problems, in his creations of a grand scale (with
which he wants to reach the majesty of the frescoes),
recalls the expressive force of certain tazebaos
projecting on the walls metropolitain violence. His
is a realism in the true sense of the word, but not
a hyper-realism. The fall into malaise, is already
an act of expressive courage while the more one
hides behind unclear lucubrations and theories.
Images like "Suicide" or " Carnal Violence " or even
"The tramp," well constructed in composition and
painted with brushstrokes both safe and strong, can
overcome the rhetoric in which it would be easy to
fall into, thanks to the expressive force of the
images that goes beyond the real vision to give it a
dramatic substance. Of course, you can say that the
model is the reality of that chronicle which, as
such, is the daily patrimony of all and who
therefore the subject appear instructive and perhaps
educational, but these painting of Federighi work in
them a kind of artistic sublimation which the
protagonists of these metropolitan stories become
symbols of a society which has fallen too low but
that invokes an indispensable rehabilitation. What
should we expect of Francesco Federighi if this is
true, in what way it is true, in that you want to
put yourself to the test? The courage, commitment,
willingness and expressive force, notwithstanding
techniques, which he has in abundance, bodes’ well
for the future.
Mario
Rocchi
The Works of Francesco Federighi appears in the
catalog
"Great Masters 2008" by Poleschi Arte
