Al final alguien con quien hablar!!! Sonrisas....todo el mundo habla ingles...y yo ...pobrecito. Bien te agradezco por comentar mis obras. He apreciado mucho "Antagonismo de una realidad"...de verdad...marcas mágicas de un mundo pictórico. Diria ..materia que entenda componerse en forma.......
Espero puedas perdonar mi espanol aproximativo. Leo
leonblas@virgilio.it

Al final alguien con quien hablar!!! Sonrisas....todo el mundo habla ingles...y yo ...pobrecito. Bien te agradezco por comentar mis obras. He apreciado mucho "Antagonismo de una realidad"...de verdad...marcas mágicas de un mundo pictórico. Diria ..materia que entenda componerse en forma.......
Espero puedas perdonar mi espanol aproximativo. Leo
leonblas@virgilio.it

LEONBLAS
Switzerland), 1969

Painter and poet, Calabrian by origin and spirit, however Tuscan-Aretine by adoption, Leonardo has entered the world of pictoric art as a self-taught artist during the 1990’s. Presently, he is a member of the prestigious Accademia Petrarca di Lettere Arti e Scienze (Petrarcan Academy of Letters, Arts and Science) (www.accademiapetrarca.it)

The main characteristic of Leonblas’s work is the emphasis placed on the cromatic factors that enhance the figures, objects or situations that are being represented. The end result is a world that is totally different from the reality of everyday life of common and ordinary men. Here, we can see an artist who tries to go more in depth and uncover a visibility that doesn’t have to do anything with external emotion, but with intuition, sensibility and the exhaltation of research as well as that of rebellion. The artist escapes from all sorts of rhetorics in order to face events. There are no objects or characters, but situations in a constant association with ideas, gestures and colours. The fluidity of signs or gestures is contained in an allusive space which is sometimes simply mental and could represent a hypothetic and equally true reality.

The brush strokes move following a certain rhythm, in search of the intimate, of what’s hidden very deep. Colours are kept dull and are rich of unique ‘chiaroscuro’ expressions of faces, torsoes and architecture. The main force of Leonblas derives from this sort of imagery. He’s an artist who is full of acquired and spontaneous values that reflect the authentic temperament in the vortex of an adventure which knows nothing of pauses and uncertainties. He transmits a mesage that deals with the values of art. In it we can see the great capacity he has to convey them. This message is an outcry which lacerates through all the periods of our history and which art re-proposes in order to identify the ideals of the spirit. This is the art of Leonblas, an effort which originates from an intense emotional force, through high quality paintings accomplished exceptionally.

During an important ceremony to the Prince of Venice, Leonblas received the Premio Biennale di Venezia– Rialto in 2005, with the following comments: “Expressionism of intense psychological sensibility”. (Giorgio Falossi in “Italian painters and sculptors Novecento – 2006”- edited from Quadrato)

“ The coherence (I would like to imply stylistic, but I think that in this case it would be better to use a more appropriate term: ethic) which Leonblas shows in his different forms of creative expression is almost absolute. I cannot ignore the operant conditioning produced by his poetic language, nor the content suggestions present in the chromatism, forms, and above all in the pages where some pictures are reproduced in his sillogy “Le voci dell’Elicona.” That is why I rely on these works equipped with a true “vade-mecum” of those codes provided by the author.

Nevertheless, substantial pulsions of extreme significance are concentrated here. If the figure is enveloped by its own mistery and its same millenary cultural roots, linked to a book which is revealed to us in an almost iconic form, I can see that each theme manifestation of Leonblas - from atemporal antiquity to the painful fractures of the modern - is summarized and condensed in a figural allusion which is a person and a mountain at the same time. In the proposal of symbolic ignition of colours (filled with qualities that are also cabalistic, in terms of framing shades going from green to red, to a neutral background as every detail in the picture), I recognize an inclusive silence of granular historical implications which also represent a question which History cannot respond to at present, or perhaps doesn’t know how to respond as yet. This causes the human paradoxical implications which are dramatically highlighted here. Furthermore: is that a male or female figure? If so, what would the difference be? Nothing. The question is only an ulterior alarm emanating from the authentic power of a pictorical vision which in the end becomes assimilated into biblical messages (and to the Gurre-lieder) of Arnold Schönberg.” (Rodolfo Tommasi in “Vetrina del Premio Arezzo” – Helicon Editions)

“…Essence and appearances: two terms – the second one is in plural form – in whose cocoon the wings of inexpressible truth of shadows flutters. These are confessions without an interlocutor, of removed psychological slavery, of nostalgia for the unknown (or the infinite, as Carducci once wrote). They are all agitated by the sacred hermetism of the icons or fetishes, just as in De Chirico’s metaphysical realism, Homer’s verses or Kafka’s thoughts. Today, this definitely essential exhibition event forces one to stop beyond the threshold of the awarness of our thoughts both, in their chaos and in their clarity through the eye-blinding effect of Leonblas’s black and white (sometimes the identity of black is definitely reflected on white and viceversa); in the traits of the physiognomy of his faces and body shapes, in the àngor which delineates them…” (Rodolfo Tommasi – December 2005)

“…the paintings of Leonblas…are based on situations and not on characters....Despite being barely recognizeable, they give a sense of image characterized by a dull, dense and dynamically applied colour. Far from seeming rhetorical, Leonblas's paintings convey a message which is not deprived of references to solitude, to the dramatic nature of certain actions and situations. All of this is shown through an <>...” (Liletta Fornasari in “La Nazione di Arezzo – Friday, December 18, 2005”

“... One can absorb a scrupulously analytical and cerebral depiction. An air of atemporal suspension can be felt, almost as if we were allowed to enter that world in our tiptoes; that is, the world of the artist: Leonblas. In any event, this doesn't lead one to exclude another kind of pictorial organization. In the works of Leonblas, there is something like the echo of a lietmotiv: a circle or sphere. It is as if he wanted to transmit to us the non stop nature and wisdom of the passagge of time, the knowledge of how to find beauty in small things: how to take back our ownership of the flavour of play. Therefore, please have a look at other works (always keep in mind that Leonblas is a self taught painter) such as "Il gioco del cerchio (The game of the hoola hoop)","La città delle sfere (the city of Spheres)" and "La musica al riposo ( Music at rest)", where what was just explained could be clearly seen; something with De Chirichian connotations, but where it is also possible to find, in the perfect chromatic compilation, affinities with the great Wassily Kandinky. We can recall a plausible example in the painting "Paesaggio con campanile (Landscape with a bell tower") because there was an ample study of the geometric shape of the circle by this artist. The artistic beauty of Leonblas is knowing how to draw from tradition, knowing how to re-elaborate it concretely, creating in this way new techniques of splendid pictorial art..."Valeria S.Lombardi - Doctor in History of Contemporary Art.


Recent Exhibitions:

- Vetrina del Premio Arezzo. Collective Show of finalist painters at the galleries of Palazzo Chianini – Vincenzi from March 5th to April 4th, 2004. Sponsored by the Town Hall of Arezzo.

- “L’Essere. Tra essenza e apparenze. Due esperienze pittoriche a confronto (Being. Amidst essence and appearance. Comparison of two pictorial experiences.) ” of Leonblas and Simone Arrigucci – Arezzo – Atrium of Honour of the Province of Arezzo – December 3-18, 2005. Sponsored by the Town Hall of Arezzo and the Province of Arezzo.

- Collective Exhibition, Premio I Biennale Europea Artisti Protagonisti "Nuova Europa" –“Le Arti” Gallery – Catania, December 3 – 10, 2005.

- Collective exhibition of Italian Artists, “Oltre”(Beyond) – Gustav Art Gallery – Montparnasse – Paris - December 2005 – January 15th, 2006.

- Collective Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Gran Premio II Biennale del Mediterraneo. March 11 – 18, 2006 - Catania - Le Arti Gallery. Sponsored by the Regional Province of Catania – Local Authority on Cultural Policies and the Provincial Department of Tourism of Catania.

- Collective Exhibition, Prima Biennale d'Arte Contemporanea Italiana. October 1 to October 31, 2006 - Lecce - Metropolitan International Gallery

- Collective Exhibition, 19° PREMIO NAZIONALE DI PITTURA – CITY OF CIVITELLA, Civitella in Val di Chiana (AR ), Picture Gallery of Via Martiri – September 16 - October 15 - 2006.

- Collective Exhibition, Arte Lanterna, 3° Incontro di Artisti Contemporanei - - Pontedera – Saturday, October 28 and Sunday, October 29, 2006 - Carrozzeria Rizieri

- “Visioni. Tra colore e bianco e nero (Visions. Colours vs. black and white) ” – Bipersonal – Catania – Individual – December 2- 31, 2006

- Collective Exhibition of Contemporary Art, II Rassegna di Arte Contemporanea – Palazzo di Città – Acireale - 17 march / 24 march 2007

- Collective Exhibition, “Fuori serie” – Aversa – 24/25 march 2007

- Collective Exhibition, “TwentyperTwenty”– Naples – 20 june/9 july 2007


- Collective Exhibition, “EroticArt” – Treviso – 16 june/7 july 2007 – Bologna – 1/16 september 2007 – Torino – 6/21 october 2007

- Personal Exhibition, Rassegna di arti visive - Artisti Mediterranei - "In punta di piede. I colori e l'irrazionale" - 7 august / 27 october 2007 - Grand Hotel Mediterraneo - Florenz


Pubblications:

Le voci dell' Elicona. By Leonardo Bloise. Anthology of poems accompained by photos of paintings of the same author, Leonblas. Helicon Editions, December 2003.

Vetrina del Premio Arezzo. Seconda Edizione. Museo Civico d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea"
(Showcase of Premio Arezzo, Second Edition, Civic Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art), Catalogue. Helicon Editions, April, 2004.

Pittori e Scultori italiani del Novecento, 2006 (Italian Painters and Sculptors of the 1900’s, 2006 Catalogue, Il Quadrato Editorial House, November 2005. Pgs. 256 - 257.

Arte e Pensiero (Art and Thoughts) Agenda 2006. Helicon Editions, November 2005. Pg. 59.

Contemprary Art Exhibition Catalogue “Oltre”, Gustav Art Gallery – Montparnasse – Paris – December 30, 2005 – January 15, 2006 – Various Artists

Avanguardie Artistiche 2006 ( Artistic Advances) Catalogue. Centro Diffusione Arte Editions, March 2006. Pg. 1070.

Contenitore di Emozioni (Container of Emotions) Catalogue. Prima Biennale d’Arte Contemporanea Italiana. Pgs. 15 – 17.

Informative Bulletin, Società Italiana dei Francesisti (Italian society of Frenchists) – Unique number, social year 2005 – 2006 – Pgs. 52 – 53.