Mysterious Spaces, Illuminated in a Timeless Way
Exhibit Lidia Bagnoli at Cramer
By Thomas Kliemann, 6 June 2000 Bonner Generalanzeiger.
Two great colorists, two revered masters of the subtleties of the play of light and color, come immediately to mind when one views the paintings of Lidia Bagnoli. The Italian painter also says frankly that she is fascinated by the works of the Prussian painter Adolph von Menzel (1815-1905) and the North American Edward Hopper (1882-1967). One sees it in her art, without its being obtrusive – she concedes that she knew the magical light of Menzel only from postcards of his works; the originals of Hopper’s work she had seen in various places in the USA. It is rather a splendid staged homage than a copied imitation: Bagnoli’s artwork is both timeless and magnificently old fashioned (that is true for Hopper as well), a celebration of color and of enigmatic rooms seen through a half-transparent glaze.
Lidia Bagnoli, who currently is presented at the Galerie Barbara Cramer under the exhibit title, Passages, puts her person and immediate surroundings in the middle of her art, without being too obvious: she outlines figures, parts of rooms are painted in such a way that an identification is hardly possible.
Bagnoli achieves this effect by reference, the emphasis is on the now and then impressionistic, graceful play of light and color. The scale of colors begins with a warm ochre and ends in a diffuse graygreen or unfathomable dark blue – streaks of white create accents.
Born in Reggio Emilia in 1952 and living now in Bologna, the painter masters the large formats, extensively supported by the use of color and helped by such painterly tricks as the picture within a picture. That she teaches scenery design at the Accademia di Brera in Milan has yet to be mentioned: she incorporates all these experiences in a masterly way. To be sure her paintings are not scenery wings, but atmospheric, poetic spaces, in which mysterious pieces are played.
Galerie Barbara Cramer. Poppelsdorfer Allee 58 A; until 30 June. Tuesday – Friday 3-6 pm, Saturday 11B2. Internet: www.bonner-galerien.de/cramer
