10 Questions with Fiorentina Giannotta
Fiorentina Giannotta holds a high School Diploma in Art and a Master's Degree in Architecture from Florence University. In 2005, she resumed her studies of drawing, painting, and goldsmith's art in jewelry. Some of her works, with sacred characters, are in the Diocesan Museum of Lecce, Italy. In addition, she's the author of Altarpieces in the Church of Santa Maria della Fiducia, Giorgilorio (Lecce). She was also present at the 54th Biennial of Art in Venice, Italy Pavilion.
Her world is inhabited by historical figures or ordinary people, always iconic. Processed in a too colorful space, with industrial paints and brushes for ceramic, they characterize her works in a very original way.
Fiorentina Giannotta portrait
ARTIST STATEMENT
“I have temperament and passion for those subjects which at first sight are trivial supporting actors of the surrounding environment, but at a secondary point of view, they are full of charms and defects, imperfect like me, and eager to be accepted.” - Fiorentina Giannotta
I Would Like Wings, 100x130 cm, 2020 © Fiorentina Giannotta
INTERVIEW
First of all, introduce yourself to our readers. You come from an architectural background. How did you start experimenting with images?
Actually, I come from an art school. I attended it with a lot of passion and a lot of zeal, and I completed all the drawings entrusted to me. It was a school of very strong training, of infinite replicas of the horses of San Marco and copies of Greek and Roman busts. Later, the desire to measure me with space started, and studying Architecture in Florence was the right place to fill all my cultural gaps.
You also work with jewelry, along with drawing and painting. How does your work change depending on the medium?
The medium totally changes the perception, but it is interesting to see how one's personality can express itself with strength and singularity through each technique.
Diggory Cowers of Mount Pleasant , 50x60 cm, 2021© Fiorentina Giannotta
Can you tell us about the process of creating your work?
I feed on paper. I'm always terrified of not having paper, even while watching a film, or during a meeting, or waiting for a while. I need sketches, drawing on countless post-its, then reviewing and enlarging some of them to become dignified characters. I don't like to talk about my work, my childhood world. Indeed I'm reluctant to explain my thoughts.
Your paintings depict colorful characters. Where do you find inspiration for your work?
I have a passion for period films, royal fiction, for romantic readings. I love Jane Austen forever. I am looking for characters, friends, all closed in their world, with their flaws. I particularly like to dress them in a vanitive way, and even the name is the result of research. However, the inspiration for classical portraiture is always present, and I love visits to museums of portraits.
What do you see as the strengths of your art, visually or conceptually?
I think my product has two levels of reading, one immediate, obvious, and in some ways even funny, the other, the second level is that relating to defects, imperfection, 6-fingered hands, poorly developed heads, arms disconnected from the shoulders, a reading that reveals imprecision and mystery, parts of life. My goal is to create wonder and discoveries, so everyone can get the idea they prefer.
Harvey Stapleford of Dunchurch, 90x90 cm, 2020© Fiorentina Giannotta
Wilburn Bratton of Melksham, 97.5x90 cm, 2021 © Fiorentina Giannotta
What's one essential element in your art?
While painting, I actually think they are colored cartons; only I try to blend the color in a few cases. And of course, the use of enamel paints for car bodies gives an original patina.
You participated in the 54th Venice Biennale, in the Italian Pavilion. What was this experience like?
Panic, at first it was panic. It was like being invited to an important party and not being able to decide what to wear. Then I thought about doing something specific, and everything went well. The production was incredible, so varied, the choice of unusual means, the interest that these events arouse, the pleasure of remaining in these containers for days and days without any other need.
Do you find that the shift to digital exhibitions and art fairs has helped you promote your work?
Yes, of course, participation is important. They are very powerful vehicles, even if I have found that organizations/art galleries are very much oppressing artists by requesting a daily and sustained exhibition of activities with stories and images on social media in recent years. It seems to me that there is no longer the desire to discover something new but that the artist must organize his market. But I do not pursue the issue very much for personal and character reasons. I participate without stress, even in an uneven way.
Don’t Panic, 110x130 cm, 2020 © Fiorentina Giannotta
What do you think about the art community and market?
I think that the market is affected by the society in which it operates. Ours is a society where it has lost many values. Therefore art, like all other sectors, is part of a dynamic of strong profit. In order to pursue a profit, it is possible to make connotations an artist bringing his expressions to an incredible economic plus but to be sure of what I say we should resent in thirty years.
Finally, any projects you are looking forward to for this year?
Yes, I would like to measure myself with low, low reliefs and a lot of drawing.
