L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2015 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 9 H ow many people do you know that are capable of creating a new Italian v e r b a n d u s e t h a t v e r b t o n a m e t h e i r a r t e x h i b i t ? N o t m a n y . L e a v e t h a t k i n d o f creative genius to our own San F r a n c i s c o l i v i n g l e g e n d , L a w r e n c e F e r l i n g h e t t i . O n October 28, at the re-opening g a l a o f S a n F r a n c i s c o ' s I s t i t u t o I t a l i a n o d i C u l t u r a , Ferlinghetti's art exhibit titled " F l u x a r e - T h e E u r o p e a n Connexion", will open for a one month run, from October 28 to November 30, at the Institute's new location at 601 Van Ness Avenue. See details below. M r . F e r l i n g h e t t i i s w e l l - known world-wide as a poet, w r i t e r , p u b l i s h e r , p a i n t e r , literary legend and co-founder of San Francisco's iconic City Lights Bookstore. Even more impressive is that Lorenzo (He does like to be called Lorenzo and admits Italian is "la bella lingua.") realized his first love w a s n o t p o e t r y , b u t , r a t h e r , p a i n t i n g . T h i s p a s s i o n f o r painting has been apparent over the past six decades through his extraordinary number of more than 2,000 visual works of art ranging from lithographs, silk s c r e e n i m a g e s , d r a w i n g a n d paintings. I n 1 9 5 0 h e e a r n e d a Doctorate de L'Universite de la Sorbonne in Paris and it was in that same year that Ferlinghetti d i d h i s f i r s t p a i n t i n g a t t h e Academie Julien. It was a black a n d w h i t e d r a w i n g t i t l e d "Duex", a work he says was s t r o n g l y i n f l u e n c e d b y t h e French painter, Jean Cocteau. L o r e n z o h a s e x h i b i t e d a l l o v e r t h e w o r l d , i n c l u d i n g Italy. In 1996, at one of the exhibitions in Rome, Italian art critic, Achille Bonito Oliva, characterized Ferlinghetti as "godfather of the (Italian) trans- avant-garde." This European c o n n e c t i o n b e g a n w i t h h i s f a t h e r , a n I t a l i a n h a v i n g emigrated from Brescia to the U.S. It is Ferlinghetti's love and connection to Europe that is the inspiration for this ongoing exhibit and for his creation of his new Italian verb "Fluxare", meaning to make love without touching. Recently, L'Italo-Americano interviewed Ferlinghetti about the exhibit, which offers a rare opportunity to view the work of a living legend. When asked when he last exhibited in San Francisco he replied "It's been quite a while. My most recent l o c a l s h o w s i n t h e p a s t f e w y e a r s w e r e a t t h e S o n o m a V a l l e y M u s e u m o f A r t a n d t h e M a r i n M u s e u m o f C o n t e m p o r a r y A r t . I ' v e exhibited many times in Italy, in Rome at the Palazzo delle E s p o s i z i o n i , ( P a l a c e o f Exhibitions). My gallery in San Francisco was George Krevsky Fine Arts but they were forced out by rising rents. We just got a website up for my paintings." G e o r g e K r e v s k y F i n e A r t s continues to maintain a website at http://www. georgekrevsky gallery.c o m a n d t h e n e w F e r l i n g h e t t i a r t w e b s i t e c a n b e f o u n d a t h t t p : / / w w w . ferlinghettiart.com. In a 2012 article in Poetry Magazine titled "More Light", Lorenzo shares his thoughts about painting: "My first San Francisco studio was at Nine M i s s i o n S t r e e t a n d t h e Embarcadero in the Audiffred building. I inherited the studio f r o m H a s s e l S m i t h , t h e f i g u r a t i v e p a i n t e r . I t w a s a marvelous studio, a big third- floor loft looking out on the Bay. There was no heat except for a small pot-bellied stove, a n d t h e r e w a s n o e l e c t r i c i t y above the ground floor. Just like Paris which I had just left. The rent was $29 a month." He goes on to say: "I never wanted to be a poet. It chose me, I didn't choose it. I wanted to be a painter but from the age of ten onward these damn poems kept coming. Perhaps one of these days they will leave me alone and I can get back to painting. The "Fluxare" exhibit will p r e s e n t n u m e r o u s w o r k s including "Mother Russia" and " B a g n o d i S e n i " ( B a t h o f Breasts), which is his reference to Italy. When asked the theme of the show, Lorenzo replied, "It will be related to Europe, my E u r o p e a n c o n n e c t i o n . M y favorite painting in the exhibit is "Mother Russia." Make sure you look at her face. It's really a hammer and sickle. You can see a hammer and sickle if you look at her right eye, the head of the hammer is her eye and the s i c k l e i s h e r n o s e a n d mouth. The painting comes out of my experiences as I travelled a c r o s s R u s s i a o n t h e T r a n s - Siberian railroad in 1968. Yes, my travels across Russia were p r o f o u n d f o r m e . I a l m o s t died. I got pneumonia and I was in the seaman's hospital on the bay of Japan for two weeks. I got there on the railroad and c o m i n g b a c k I c a m e o n a n enormous Russian plane, a huge Russian military transport plane w i t h a b o u t 1 0 0 R u s s i a n soldiers. The whole trip was on wooden benches." When asked why he often features birds and boats in his art he replied, "The bird is an enigma. As far as the ships, I was in the Navy for four years (as a Lieutenant Commander) and before that I worked on fishing boats in New England. I worked on a huge scallop boat ( a l s o k n o w n a s a s c a l l o p d r e d g e ) . I t w a s v e r y h a r d work. Ships and boats are a natural subject for me after all t h e t i m e I ' v e s p e n t o n t h e ocean." Ferlinghetti still maintains a painting studio at the old Navy shipyard at Hunter's Point in San Francisco. He has worked there for over 30 years. For o v e r 6 0 y e a r s o f h i s l i f e , painting has been his chosen art. The "Fluxare" exhibit is a once- in-a-lifetime opportunity to view the world through Lawrence Ferlinghetti's eyes. When you view and ponder his paintings, keep in mind his words: "The art has to make it on its own, without explanations, and it's the same for poetry. If the poem or the painting has to be explained, then it's a failure i n c o m m u n i c a t i o n . " ~ Lawrence Ferlinghetti Italian Cultural Institute Gala Re-opening F l u x a r e - T h e E u r o p e a n Connexion Exhibition October 28, 2015 - 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. 601 Van Ness Avenue, Opera Plaza Building, Ground Floor, Suite F, San Francisco Fluxare! A New Italian Verb And An Ar t Exhibit CATHERINE ACCARDI Lawrence Ferlinghetti, S. Francisco, 1993, Acrylic on paper, 36 x 74 1/2 in. Photo by Elisa Polimeni SAN FRANCISCO ITALIAN COMMUNITY Lawrence Ferlinghetti

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