Guards holding paintbrushes at the gate of imagination.
Forewarned is forearmed is a formula that invites to caution. Everything that happened over the last years can be condensed into this old witticism. And, inasmuch as we are part of the living world, we, people, are eager to accept this saying. Life takes a lot of energy to shield itself from perils and death. The only solution capable of suspending this ongoing and circular merry-go-round of the living that is running around devouring its own tail is within children’s grasp. It is the recourse to imagination. Here, there is no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying and if there is any, it is just ephemeral, only appearing to give flavor to the story. Giuliano Nardin’s golem-people are guards of the inner world. They are all holding a paint brush in the classical posture of the painter advertising his trade. But unlike the classical case of the self-portrait of the painter with the tools of his profession, Giuliano discards the palette, and everything is reduced to the paint brush which suddenly becomes ambiguous. The bulky guards become wizard-conductors, not only shielding the world of imagination from that of the living but also giving the tuning note of the stories. They are like surgeons who open the portal of art where dream cancels all perils and painting is more solid than the real world.
Text: Dan Popescu
Translation by Bertha Savu
H’art presented Giuliano Nardin’s exhibition “Paza bună trece primejdia rea” (Forewarned is forearmed) at Invitro in Cluj, opening on 13 May 2023.
In Dan Popescu’s text, Nardin’s golem-people are guards of the inner world. Holding only a paintbrush, with no palette, they become wizard-conductors who shield imagination from everyday life and open the portal of art, where dream cancels all perils.
