Story of the Artist: Paolo Facchinetti

Paolo Facchinetti at the age of fourteen, after finishing eighth grade, has a desire: to go to the Carrara Academy of Fine Arts in Bergamo. As often happened in those years, however, work first of all.

His father found him a job at the Ferrari Printing House in Clusone. His working life had only accentuated his desire to study art, the smell or rather the scent of typographical colors, the art catalogs that were printed in the letterpress, the meeting with artists who frequented the company to get printed their works, such as Tommaso Pizio, Cesare Petrogalli, the sculptor Giancarlo Defendi, only made the passion that already existed in Paolo grow.

Despite the pace of work and the inevitable fatigue, driven by an incredible passion for art, Paolo enrolled at the Carrara Academy which he attended in the evening, after work, from 1968 to 1972.

He enrolled in drawing and nude courses under the guidance of Prof. Mino Marra, followed by decisive moments of study.

This is also the period in which Paolo paints the environment that surrounds him at home, in Nembro, the farmhouses, the small hamlets in the heart of the Seriana Valley.

At 19, Paolo was called for compulsory military service. From Nembro he is transferred to Trapani. Not even this interlude stops him, in fact Paolo continues to paint, drawing inspiration from the military objects that surround him. After a few months, Paolo is transferred as a switchboard operator to a barracks in Oderzo, a small village in the north.

The captain, after finding a space where the artist could paint during the service, also organized an exhibition for him in a gallery in Jesolo.

Once his experience in the army is over, Paolo returns home and dedicates himself to odd jobs that allow him to travel and discover the world, until in 1975 he meets his future wife Angela, constant support in his career. It was in the 1970s that Paolo began to sell some of his works and his talent began to be increasingly recognized. The apartment is transformed into a studio, he paints in a room and in the bathroom he develops his photographs. The artist remembers the scents of the house that mixed with that of oil colors, the house had been transformed and was full of works.

In the 80s he began to frequent the artistic group Valbrembo '77, here he met Cesare Benaglia, mentor and friend, with whom he painted landscapes and nudes using only the primary colors yellow, cyan, magenta with the support of black and white: the purpose was to learn how to use basic colors and create secondary colors with them.

As just mentioned, up to now the typical themes of his painting are the landscapes that surround him alternated with portraits. The conception of that time was that each painter should have only one style and this began to be close to Paolo, who loves to experiment, change styles, techniques and move from figurative to abstract art.

The turning point comes with the discovery of the painter Gerhard Richter, a painter who passed from figuration to abstraction, exactly what Paolo was experiencing, from that moment on, the artist feels free to express himself, no longer bound and restricted by the limiting belonging to a unique style.

After years of painting with colors, Paolo decides to experiment exclusively with the use of black and white. The painting characterized by the dualism of black / white, light / shadow is only apparently limited, but it is able to bring with it many levels of meaning and if accompanied by a skilful and precise gesture it can achieve really interesting emotional and formal results. But it does not stop there, the artist today, rediscovers color but with a different nuance, now the works have a more impressionistic accent, "like when the eyes are half closed and all the details disappear", the visitor is free to interpret the framework and what it represents. 

It is essential for Paolo that the viewers experience emotion and free interpretation, the paintings, says the artist, citing the letter written by A. Gottlieb and M. Rothko with the collaboration of B. Newman to the New York Times newspaper on 7 June 1943 , “[…] The experience of enjoying a work of art is a true marriage of different spirits. And, in art as in marriage, non-consummation is a reason for annulment. [...] ".

People need to take the time to observe and not just to watch. What continues to amaze the artist is how people perceive his works, many times the most unsuspected visitors turn out to be extremely sensitive and intuitive, with an open soul, ready to welcome art.

Each work is born from the inspiration of the moment, which may be the desire to represent, through pencil portraits, artists who most impressed him, or the creation of mental portraits, taken from books read, which gave life to the collection "Portraits Immaginari ”, the fascination conveyed by the landscapes of the Plitvice natural park in Croatia, gives life to the collection“ The rediscovered image ”; the "Folla Follia" collection, inspired by the crowded squares of Milan, highlights the solitude of man.

In short, everything is inspiration for this multi-faceted artist, strictly dependent on the art from which he cannot stay away.

The artist, who defines his art as the shadow that generates light and vice versa, argues that none of what he has achieved would have been possible without the support of his wife, a life partner who supported and endured his career. And to her he dedicates special thanks.

Magnificent, full of emotion, intense, this is how Paolo Facchinetti's works can be described, available for you in the ArtWork section!

For more information on Paolo Facchinetti and his artwork available on Berista.com, you can visit his profile.