| It is difficult to translate the paintings of this unusual ARTIST into words, because one
must intuitively follow a dual itinerary in each of them: from primordial times in human
history to the present (through the innumerable and varied layers that make up the “fabric”
of the work) and, then in the opposite direction, from the present (and future) to the
primordial traces of life on earth.
If I could venture to say so, I would point out that his art is not within the reach of
everyone. It is art for the initiated but… I know that Cataldi would not approve of my
saying this.
The forms meet, intersect, and cross paths with one another - not just those in the painting
- but those of his soul. In art as I conceive of it, in fact, there is no chance of setting forth
subjects which have not first been assimilated by the spirit, felt with utmost intensity, put
through a process of disintegration and then, when a focus has been achieved, invented
all over again and expressed in techniques and colors.
I am not an “Art Critic”, I am a writer and insist on this point so that everyone may feel as I
do - totally “stripped naked” before Him, his personal skill in playing games, as well as his -
and others’ - feelings, just as he likes to play with brushes, forms and colors.
Fundamental and irreplaceable components in his works are Eroticism and its
suppression; Chastity involved not as a goal (or discipline) but as the rejection of any form
of violence and, finally, the monsters that - nowadays more than ever - inhabit mankind.
Cataldi offers any circumspect observer, more than to specialized Critics, an inexhaustible
psychological and cultural panorama, anthropological material that is difficult to penetrate
and, finally, a long road to follow to arrive at an understanding of it.
Perhaps the best way to avoid losing sight of it is not to misunderstand it. One must wait
for it patiently, where it will eventually come along, or be found within his Paintings, in that
spiritual area that all people should occupy as brothers and sisters. I am not making a
comment. I am extending an invitation to the Observer, whether he or she be attentive or
distracted, to penetrate the works of Cataldi to savor to the utmost the disconcerting
atmosphere that reigns and that characterizes it, in order to locate the focal point in each
and to discover, as he himself attempts to do, the almost occult meaning of every situation.
Sensuality and commiseration - Offer and refusal - Wish to escape and outrage - Defiance and
profound awareness
-are the milestones that the Painter has taken into consideration and with which he now
challenges us to stimulate our quest.
If we are capable of approaching his inner self we can show him that we have understood
him and, thus, appreciated him with love.
For any artist, this is very important and all the more so for people like himself, who
unfailingly bring out attention to the most burning subjects of our - and all times, those that
upset the Human Soul every day, and daily create ephemeral illusions and deceitful
intrigues.
His paintings are waiting for you now.
My words, in their essence, will not have gone to waste if they have - at least in part - had
the merit of showing you one of the “faces” which contribute to what I have called and
continue to call the “UNIQUENESS” of Lino Cataldi, a highly sensitive witness and
interpreter of every human experience. |
