Published by Art Style Magazine
Winter Spring 2018 pages 122-123
Written by Tobia Donà

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Mario Arlati Incomplete Flag, 2017 Mixed technique on fabric (27.95 x 21.26 x 7.87 in / 71 x 54 x 20 cm)

Since the 18th century, art has experienced the urge to narrate its own time. The idea is so persistent that it became a paradigm in the 20th century. The relationship between art and contemporaneity has become increasingly difficult and complex and, in our days, it runs the risk of giving in to rhetoric or, in some cases, that dreaded thing called obsolescence. But the world has changed very quickly, giving birth to new unexpected phenomena that no artist can avoid narrating. Mario Arlati’s point of view is poetic and, therefore, privileged.

Mario Arlati in his work studio

Mario Arlati Incomplete Flag, 2017 mixed media on canvas (27.56 x 19.69 in / 70 x 50 cm)

But as we know, boundaries in the world are very important, while infinity terrifies and frightens with its immeasurability. In the catalogue of his exhibition Incomplete Flags, Matteo Galbiati writes: "Aside from being a token of memory, his paintings have a cosmopolitan and cross-cultural nature; they are evidence of a reciprocity which crosses cultures and identities while aiming at integration, rather than being a self enclosed phenomenon." Galbiati adds regarding these "rags." "Perhaps not with a completely correct and precise form, satisfying the aesthetics of immediate glances, but certainly saturated with memories that, although made blurred and imprecise by the wear and tear of time, for those who grasp their intense depth, will always remain precious and indelible."

Mario Arlati Incomplete Flag Half Suisse, 2017 mixed media on canvas (27.56 x 19.69 in / 70 x 50 cm)

Mario Arlati and friends at his exhibition Incomplete Flags that took place at the AIMO ROOM Concept Store in Lugano, Switzerland.

The exhibition Incomplete Flags took place at the AIMO ROOM Concept Store in Lugano, Switzerland, where owner Giusy Braglia makes different Muses (fashion, design, visual arts and sculpture) coexist freely, without boundaries or restrictions. A member of a family that has always been close to art, together with her husband, Riccardo Braglia, she also manages the prestigious Anna and Gabriele Braglia Foundation, which holds a collection of works by the greatest masters of the twentieth century: Picasso, Balla, Modigliani, Klee, Kandinsky, and many others.

Mario Arlati Incomplete flag, 2017 Mixed technique on fabric (21.26 x 15.75 x 14.96 in / 54 x 40 x 38 cm)
 

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