Wednesday 19 June 2013

Giacomo Balla in Bologna

Today I had the pleasure to visit a rather peculiar exhibition. At the Galleria Cinquantasei in Bologna, Italy, a collection of many collages by Giacomo Balla is on show. Not only a beautiful and unusual exhibition, it is even free! The pieces show the exceptional sense the artist had for the plastic use of line, shape and colour. Of course he was part of the Futurism movement but differently from others, he maintains a lightness in his work, also in the more geometrical pieces, that points more in the direction of abstract art rather than the heavier cubism. The thing that more than any other has caught my attention is his masterly style in using colour, not only the combination of different colours but the ability of expression by the use of single colour hues. Also, which is very near to abstract, the importance and subtlety of the line, whether you can see it or not in the general colour plot, great technique that does not celebrate itself leaving all the space to emotion!
An absolute pleasure for the senses.