L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2015 www.italoamericano.org 8 Gianni La Rosa: An Artist's Return to the Spotlight S i m p l y k n o w n a s G i a n n i , world-renowned artist Giovanni L a R o s a e n j o y s a c h a l l e n g e when creating masterpieces. At the age of eighteen, he moved from Italy to California. Since then, he has earned prestigious awards such as the grand Prix F i n e A r t s d e P a r i s , a n d h a s exhibited from Los Angeles' Italian Cultural Institute to San Biagio Platani, Italy. Locally, one can still see Gianni's art- w o r k a t L o s A n g e l e s ' V i l l a Scalabrini. For his current pro- ject, Gianni has created Supper with Jesus; his first religious p a i n t i n g w i t h a d i f f e r e n t a p p r o a c h f r o m h i s p r e v i o u s works in that Jesus is the source of light, and not the receiver of light. The masterpiece is the r e s u l t o f t h e c o l l a b o r a t i o n between Gianni and Boston- b a s e d w o r l d w i d e n o n - p r o f i t organization Thread of Hope w i t h r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s T e r e s a Citro, Ruth Strait, and Maria Tosti. Gianni will donate the painting to the organization, in order to raise funds that will go towards helping women heal after experiencing drastic life changing events. The collabora- tion will generate people's inter- est in the painting, but most importantly in helping others. Gianni is glad to take part of this great cause and considers this his great comeback. After years of no exhibitions, Gianni proves through Supper with Jesus why h e i s c o m p a r e d t o m a s t e r s Caravaggio and Titian, while at the same time inviting the view- e r t o s e e t h e h u m a n i n t h e painter; the painter's contribu- tion towards improving human condition through his art dona- tion. Why do you consider this comeback bigger? It's not really a personal satis- faction to come back bigger. In a n o t h e r s i m i l a r i n s t a n c e , I already had a work available and donated it. This time, Thread of Hope came to me asking if I could do something for them, and I had the ample time to paint and prepare myself better for a larger work. They didn't tell me what they wanted me to paint. It was totally up to me. If you look at this painting carefully, there are many women, not many men. The subject is to help women in CELINA LOZANO need. And in this particular situ- ation, I picked up the subject from the Bible like Martha bick- ering with Mary, because Mary is wiping Jesus' feet and Martha questions why Mary is not help- ing out with the house. Overall, I tried to pick up a typical allego- ry of what could have happened. It is many bits of pieces of a story of what could have hap- pened. In that particular scene no one really knows. It exists only in the mind of the artist. Does the process of painting differ when you know your artwork will aid individuals in need? W h e n I p a i n t I g e t i n t h e mood of what I'm doing. You have to be in the mood. When I do religious paintings, I pray to Christ to put my brain in that time. It's a lot of spiritual work. It is in prayer where the spirit moves as God helps me see how it actually happened. I want to get close to the possible way it could have happened. In this particular supper, from pieces of the Bible, they talk about Jesus dining with Lazarus, not the entire group. I picked up a little p i e c e h e r e a n d t r y t o p u t i t together. The artist is like a writer, like a preacher, I try to portray what I read. The spoken words become an image. Before deciding to collabo- rate with organizations such as Thread of Hope, do you think about it first? No, because when you do something from your heart, it's light, not heavy. You get the strength, power, and force to do it. I try to capture the vision of L e o n a r d o , t h e p o w e r o f Michelangelo, and the beauty of Raphael. When you put all these forces together, it cannot be other than a masterpiece. It also depends on how much you are involved in the arts, because if you don't care at all then you don't care what it looks like. H o w e v e r , i f y o u r e a l l y c a r e about artwork, then it gives a different impression. You have been described as one soul with many artists. Is it difficult to stick to one style, or to approach many styles? A r t i s t s f o c u s o n h o w t o become successful, but because life is so diversified, it cannot be expressed in one way. Life has to be expressed in many different moods. How can we express life in one way? It is impossible. We are different people, life is frag- ile, but because we are so diver- sified, we need to express, not just summarize. In art, the sub- ject is to specify the thing you are dealing with. What is one thing all artists have in common? Brainstorm. The Renaissance artist needed to brainstorm an idea. They came up with one idea that was better than the one that was said before. What is your contribution to society? What is our contribution to soci- ety? History will remember the p e o p l e t h a t g i v e t h e b e s t t o humankind. If we are committed to the arts or writing we have to give the best contribution we can give. The donation is supposed to be meaningful, Mary is taking care of the person that is going to b e g o n e , n o t t h e t h i n g s t h a t Martha is worried about. Believe i n w h a t y o u ' r e s a y i n g , a n d believe in what you're doing. Prepare yourself very well, and deliver the best. Community Remembers Gianny Lucarelli Cavaliere Gianny Lucarelli was born in Montrone, Italy on August 13th, 1935. He came to A m e r i c a i n 1 9 6 4 a n d b e g a n working for the Iron Workers Union #416. He settled down in Monterey Park where he met Stase Verbickas. They married o n A u g u s t 2 2 , 1 9 7 0 a t S t . C a s i m i r ' s C h u r c h i n L o s Angeles. Gianny and Stase had three daughters. They moved to Pasadena and Gianny eventual- ly became a mason contractor and started his own business. G i a n n y n e v e r f o r g o t h i s roots. He voluntarily gave his time to numerous Italian orga- nizations such as San Trifone Society, UNICO, ICF and Villa Scalabrini and was an active supporter of St. Peter's Italian C h u r c h a n d C a s a I t a l i a n a . Through his efforts, he grew attendance at smaller events l i k e S t . J o s e p h ' s T a b l e . H i s accomplishments in fundraising and service were repeatedly recognized by these organiza- tions and the City and County of Los Angeles, the State of C a l i f o r n i a , R e d C r o s s , T h e K n i g h t s o f M a l t a a n d t h e Republic of Italy. Gianny even became a volunteer police offi- cer for the City of Arcadia. Gianny passed away in his home in Pasadena on June 16, 2015, surrounded by his family. H e i s s u r v i v e d b y h i s w i f e , Stase Lucarelli; his daughters, C h i a r a C o g l i a n d r o , M a r i a Shafer and Teresa Martin; and his grandchildren Gianna and L u c a C o g l i a n d r o , C o l e a n d L u k e S h a f e r , a n d R i l e y a n d Jonas Martin. He was laid to rest at Forest Lawn, Covina Hills on June 24, 2015. In lieu of flowers, donations may be s e n t t o i n h o n o r o f G i a n n y Lucarelli to City of Hope, 1500 E. Duarte Road, Duarte, CA 91010, Att: Joe Komsky. Gianny Lucarelli Artist Giovanni La Rosa and Father Freccia, Director of Villa Scalabrini (1995). Photo courtesy of the artist Giovanni La Rosa's Supper With Jesus. Photo courtesy of the author.

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