The Interpretation of Color and Form
An exhibition by Owen F Ransen, December 2004,
Castellanza, near Milano, Italy

A bit of luck...

I had been intending to do this exhibition for a long time, and by pure luck, in September 2004, I found a gallery with a 2 week spot in December. The artist who had that spot had backed out on the very day I called to ask if they had any free space for me. The 2 weeks before Christmas! What could be better?

The exhibition area was in Villa Pomini, in Castellanza, north of Milan. A nice well kept old villa with large garden, owned by the local council.

There was not much time, I had to get the posters and invites printed quickly. I asked my friend Moreno Marabase to do the graphics design, and he used his contacts to get posters and invites printed quickly and at a reasonable cost.

The poster is based on one of the artworks in the exhibition, "Geisha":

You can't see the detail from here, but the figure is actually made up of many tiny tiny geisha outlines. The image comes from a photograph of more than 20 years ago, when I was leaving high school. It is a girl from a black and white group photograph. Her outline is seems stable and dignified somehow and has always struck me.

Although I had still quite a few works to put in the exhibition I wanted to do some new ones - having a deadline was a challenge which forced me to be more energetic than I normally am.

The Forest of the Night.

The title of this work is actually a quote from William Blake's "Tyger Tyger Burning Bright", and though not connected with the poem seemed an apt title:

As with many of my recent works I use folded paper which gives totally different images depending on which side you are standing. The above work, seen from left and right, looks like this:

At the inaugaration this was the first to sell.

Blue Fans White Light

This work was inspired by a rough drawing by Giordano Bruno, (more of him later). The photograph does not do justice to the effect of the white light and the detail in the blue fans. In fact most of the images on this WEB page fail miserably to do justice to the works. But then I would say that wouldn't I?

Buddha Teapot

I don't think the Buddha would have been offended by this image (or rather these 4 images). From one direction you can see the Buddha, and from another direction you see a Teapot. But going closer you see that the Buddha is made up of many tiny Teapots, and the Teapot is made up of many tiny Buddhas. Thats what I meant by 4 images.

The Chess Players

This is actually a double portrait of two chess playing friends, Pinuccio and Alberto, who are seen here concentrating on a game of chess. So from one side you can see Pinuccio and from the other side you can see Alberto, and if you go close you can see that the faces are actually made up of many small chess pieces.

Eno Fripp Gunn

Brian Eno, Robert Fripp and Trey Gunn all make the sort of music that sounds as if it could go on forever, changeless and changing. This musical feeling was what inspired this visual response.

The Opening Night

The first person, apart from myself, to arrive on the opening night of the exhibition was this impressive lady sommilier, who also dragged the champage and soft drinks and teenie weenie sandwiches into the gallery. I helped a bit, but she would have been quite capable of doing it all alone. She stayed as calmy serious as this all night, and must have been dead tired and hungry by 10:30, when it was all over.

Gradually people arrived, ate the food, drunk the drink, and sometimes looked at the works. A good reaction overall. Some regulars visitors told me that the exhibitions there are sometimes quite grim and boring, but they were glad to have come to this one. High contrast colorful images, not dirty splashes of grey and brown. Then there was the food. And the champagne...

As time passed more and more people came, and I could relax more and more, maybe a drop more of that champagne...

...and a good time was had by all.

I was not alone...

That same night, in the same villa, another exhibition was opening, by Gaetano D'Auria (on the left) and Vanni Saltarelli (center). Their styles are very different but complementary:

"abitare un fiore" - Gaetano D'Auria

"Forse per Gioco" - Vanni Saltarelli

They too enjoyed the food and wine at my opening.

On the quieter days...

On the quieter days I stood around and tried to look arty/and or Zennish, a bit like the lady sommilier.

On the evening of the 14th day the Sleepy Clock rested silently at last, hinting to me that it was time to pack up and go home....

Click here for all the artworks exibited.