Maurizio Lanzillotta
“I ended up uniting the two elements that most fascinated me from the Castilian and Italian landscapes. Hiding the landscape gives you that same solitude, that same suspension of time and of mystery. Finally the element common to all and the most fundamental, is the light.”
(Italian, b. 1960)
Born in Campobasso (Molise, Italy), Lanzillota spent his childhood and teen years in Santa Agata, moving later to Rávena and eventually settling in Spain. He is greatly influenced by the landscapes of both his home and of his adopted country, and infuses his works with the thick fog and diffused light he fondly remembers from his childhood.
The semi-translucent quality of the surfaces of his paintings gives them a calming nature, while also creating a seductive atmosphere that beckons the viewer in. His obsessively detailed and meticulous work is achieved by eliminating any sign of brushstrokes, which smooths out all pictorial elements. Through this careful painting technique, Lanzillotta aims to polish the surface itself until he reaches that “early Italian” patina, superimposing successive and subtle layers of paint until he creates the desired effect. This process often gives his paintings a dream-like quality, which allows him to create scenes where nostalgia, memory, and imagination meet.
Lanzillotta cites many influences in his journey as an artist, from the significant work of Giotto, to the revolutionary art of Mattia Moreni. Lanzillotta describes that he finds the key to freedom of expression within Moreni’s question, “What is all this prattle about post-modernism when modernity has not yet taken place?” Much like Moreni, Lanzillotta is uncompromisingly original, and creates work that is immersive, inventive, and profound. He has been featured in many international solo exhibitions, including “Landscapes by Heart” at the Museu Municipal de Estremoz in Portugal. His work is in the permanent collection of numerous public institutions, such as Museo Municipal de Valdepeñas, Fundación Wellington in Madrid, and Museo de Ourense. He currently lives and works in Madrid, Spain.
