Schola S. Zaccaria

an architect artist

Schola S. Zaccaria

FRONT COVER :

Gianfranco Missiaja at his drawing board

PRINTED IN ITALY by Schola S. Zaccaria limited edition 2015

www.gianfrancomissiaja.it www.scholasanzaccaria.com

e-mail: info@venicegallery.it

Photographic images, layout and design by Gianfranco Missiaja

Translation from Italian to English by John Mittleman

COPYRIGHT

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No part of this publication can be reproduced, stored in retrieval system or trasmitted in writting using Gianfranco Missiaja, or, as expressly permitted by law. Or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographis right organization

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Preface

Gianfranco Missiaja’s multi-faceted personal life, and his artistic activi-ties, are related to us through an interview with Paolo Rosa Salva: from his first apprenticeship at the State Institute of Art in Venice, to the Fine Arts Academy, with master artists Poli, De Logu and Beker, and finally to the University, his close ties to master artist Carlo Scarpa, and his experiences with architectural and design projects. From his teaching engagements in cities across Italy, to the times of his existentialist crisis, which led to a prolonged period of Freudian psychoanalysis, and finally to his participation in innumerable compe-titions and expositions in Italy and elsewhere, Gianfranco Missiaja suc-cessfully draws us into his artistic life in these pages. His love of the theater is communicated to us through his splendid set designs, which come to life in telling the story of his city - through the scenery - and proceeding from that to his interpretations of the cha-racters of the Commedia dell’Arte — in his paintings on their masks, to the pictorial representation of the Carnival of Venice, his birthplace. He practically takes us by the hand and accompanies us, step by step, on this fascinating voyage through his self-discovery and his creative fervor. Understanding contemporary art is not a simple matter. However, we gain insight in observing the way in which Gianfranco Missiaja’s art work has evolved over his 50 years of artistic activity, starting with his early drawings and paintings, engravings, lithography and silk-screen painting, and finally to his latest showings at the International Art Exhi-bits. His story, told faithfully and sincerely — starting with architectural planning and design — finishes with an account of his latest work in the literary field: several of his contemporary art appreciation texts are written to be understood by the ordinary man, not specialized in art-works, and to provide a key to the complex world of artistic expression in today’s art. Reading Missiaja’s answers to questions posed in this interview, and seeing examples of the artist’s works, one begins to understand some of contemporary art’s underlying concepts. Missiaja draws on historical and cultural references, from the history of Venice and its well-known masks, from the theatrical works of the Commedia dell’Arte, to the most recent artistic trends. His comments present not only his insights as an art critic, but also his views on social and political issues.

Today it is possible to capture some of this magic and take it home with you. There are many different characters to choose from, often depicted with views or backgrounds of the most famous areas in Venice. The figu-res in these works, historical Commedia dell’Arte actors, are in an artistic synthesis. They bring us into the history of theater and masks so that we feel the essence of Carnevale. Looking at Missiaja’s art revives our best memories of Venice. Her histo-ry, her palaces and her happiest, most joyful characters are captured on exclusive handmade linen and hemp paper, a jewel in itself. Smile toge-ther every day with your family and your guests when Pantalone, Arlec-chino, and Colombina open the curtains for you….. These wonderful artworks will draw the attention of all who visit you, inspiring admiration for these images created in splendid watercolors on the most precious paper. The artworks’ lively movement looks like a con-cert of musical notes in an allegretto, which accompany you with true joy, the essence of Venice, for the rest of your lives. The mask, from it’s origins, is a symbol of escape from the daily routi-ne. A mask enhances some aspects of a person’s character that social constrictions would normally deny, easing the difference between social classes. During Carnevale, a much more relaxed contact was created between classes, a language and behavior that could never have been accepted in everyday life. Venice, more than any other place, has always been famous for her carnivals. Even today, during the month of February, Carnevale is cele-brated, livening up streets and squares with every imaginable type of im-provised show. Everyone, even tourists, love dressing up and showing off manufactured costumes displaying traditional and historical ideas, crea-tive, and many times masterpieces of design and construction, and also extravagant personal creations. During Carnevale, the magical atmos-phere in the city reaches its peak. Masked revelers are reflected on water, dance across old bridges and attend balls in historical palaces. If one has the chance of moving through the canals by boat, you can re-live the en-chantment of this “city outside time”. In Venice, the frenzy of the metropolis suffocated by smog and cars is re-placed with the pleasure of walking, of meeting people, spending time with one another, enjoying oneself, and dreaming. It was in this city that I was born, and where every day I get my in-spiration which gives life to the characters in my paintings: how can you resist creative temptations? The history of Venice is always about singular adventures which happened across the centuries: of disguises, of Casa-nova’s intrigues, of loves hidden behind masks and ‘tabari’(cloak), “Co-lombine’ and ‘Morette’. In this authentic backdrop, real and not virtual or reconstructed, in this city overflowing with art, history and culture, try to imagine yourself as a Venetian “Bauta” while you glide slowly along lago-on waters….. I’ll leave you with this vision while you observe my works, immersed in this great stage where it may be easier for you to invent a life different from your own while trying to free your fantasy and imagination….

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Critical comment

The central theme is that of the Commedia dell’arte: It is almost like a general plot outline leaving plenty of space to the author’s fantasy. The result, as we can see from this collection of pictures, is highly suggestive. Gianfranco Missiaja draws his initial inspiration from original engravin-gs, seeking to catch their rhythm, which is rather bombastic and inflated, due on the one hand to the typical expression of the period (mostly baro-que) and on the other to the mere nature of the subjects. For the masks in the Commedia dell’Arte display a showy and whimsical theatricality, fixed by tradition while at the same time open to continuous invention. This is the starting- point of a formal and psychological analysis, nearly a transposi-tion to our time of a fabulous model present only in prints and paintings. The second stage of Missiaja’s method is the decomposition, a kind of synthesis of the motifs underlying the initial structure. Césanne and the Cubists used to proceed in a similar way. What emerges are the force-vectors, the bone structure of the image. Hence the artist comes to a new form, based on the repetition of the motif, which reminds of the Futurists (Balla). It is interesting to note that even though the image changes, its structural quality, its musical cadence remains perceptible. Though abstract and apparently untied to the figure, the form con-serves its internal dynamic energy. In the whole of these interlacing signs we cannot but recognize the original vitality of the mask. Gianfranco Missiaja has been the first to apply this method syste-matically to the characters of the Commedia dell’Arte (Zanni, Arlecchino, Pantalone, Trivellino, etc). The result is not only a brilliant variation on a the-me, but also an aesthetical and historical identification with a world which represents one of the highlights of Italian theatre culture. The cheerfulness of the subjects and of the colours goes hand in hand with a captivating sharpness of interpretation. And so we may witness once again the phan-tasmagoric ballet of the Zanni, who we can easily imagine in the invariable setting of the Venice, scenery of the Commedia dell’arte.

Paolo Rizzi

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Gianfranco, were you born and raised in Venice?

My family has lived in Venice for many generations, and I was born there in 1947. Ever since I was a little boy, there were paints and brushes around. My father pain-ted with a tremendous passion, even though it was exhausting, and he was barely ma-king ends meet by selling his paintings. My childhood times unfolded in the fields and the streets where, to learn about art, all you had to do was look around at the enormous artistic richness so characteristic of Venice.

What did you study, and what educa-tional curriculum did you pursue?

I attended the State Institute of Art, star-ting with the so-called lower classes, which I started when I was 11 years old. At the end of the first three years, and after an exam, you graduate with a middle school diploma in the discipline you studied. At the end of the second three years, which are the so-cal-led higher-level classes, and after another exam, a high school diploma is awarded, attesting to your mastery of the Fine Arts techniques. I continued at the same Insti-tute, where I took the master artisan course, which led to yet another exam. I must say that this was a very strict school; when I was there, being late was not permitted, and so much as a word in class with your friends was punished by being suspended from les-sons. Classes ran eight hours a day. This allowed you to get a great deal of hands-on experience by being able to work in various workshops devoted to each technique: they ranged from mosaics to glaze, from graphic arts to painting theatrical sets, from working with clay, wood carving, and working with and sculpting marble, to wrought ironwork, goldsmithing, and finally textiles. I cho-se architecture, which permitted me to get practical experience in these workshops, al-ternating among them every three months.

So, you started with technical design?Even though I loved Fine Arts and graphic arts, I chose to attend classes in the architec-ture section, on the advice of an architecture teacher who assured me the I would quickly find work in an architectural firm. In spite of choosing this technical direction, I remem-ber that I loved to work outside class hours, where I could freely explore my creative ide-as. I succeeded in getting help from classma-tes who were in the graphic arts section, and after class hours, I enjoyed working at home.

After high school, what did you turn to?

Once having finished at the Institute of Art, I enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts, in theatrical set design. To tell the truth, these lessons seemed like child’s play compared to the preceding studies. After a break in studies, during which I taught at the State Institute of Art in Trento, I had to pass the Italian baccalaureate exam in order to enroll in the School of Architecture. I prepared for this through self-study; that is, I took the exam having studied from written material, but without having been in a regular study program. It was gratifying to be awarded the degree in 1975, with perfect grades. It was only after opening my first workshop in Venice, that my wife and I could at-tend courses at the International School of Graphic Arts. I must say that it was a real pleasure to be there, where I learned acid-etching techniques for lithography on metal plates and on stone, as well as silk-screening.

Did you have any particularly well-known teachers?

At the Academy of Fine Arts my teachers were among the most well-known Vene-tian artists at the time, including Beker, De Logu, Abis, Poli, Saetti, and Vedova, who held seminars for us. Aside from teaching

An Interview with Gianfranco Missiajaby Paolo Rosa Salva

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me techniques for working with various me-dia mounted in various ways, they were also able to help rekindle my love for the thea-ter and its history. I fondly remember te-achers at the Architecture faculty : Ignazio Gardella, Manfredo Tafuri, Francesco Dal Co, Massimo Cacciari, Carlo Aymonino, Lu-ciano Semerani, and in particular Giusep-pe Cristinelli for the art of restoration, and Carlo Scarpa who, instead of having a pe-dantic teaching style, loved to roam around the students’ tables, pen in hand, sensitizing the students to the elements of drawing and design through hands-on exercises with graphics and colors. But it was at the Aca-demy of Fine Arts that I began to under-stand and to immerse myself in the Com-media dell’Arte and its characters, which was very well received by critics and the public during a certain period of my career.

Your artistic experiences have been

widely varied, and you’ve even wor-ked in teaching…

In 1968 I got my first teaching assignment with the State Institute of Art in Trento, where I had lived for 7 years. After this ex-perience, I taught for 4 years at the Art High School of Rome, and at the State Institute of Art in Civitacecchia. I came back to my birthplace in 1980, where for 10 years I took on the job of teaching design and the direc-torship of the workshops associated with the State Institute of Art. From then on, I’ve stayed in Venice to live and work, with the exception of travels for exhibits outside Italy.

Venice seems to have a life and ener-gy different from any other city…

Unlike other cities, where the automobile has become the principal means of transporta-tion, and where the historic city centers are

Arlecchino al carnevale di Venezia Watercolour cm. 40 x 60

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drowned in vehicles, in Venice we still en-joy the pleasure of meeting each other in the street and of a friendly conversation. More than 400 bridges cross the canals, uniting the islands in such a way that it’s possible to walk just about everywhere. Traveling by wa-ter, the boats never cross pedestrian paths, and you’re never faced with the prospect of crossing a street, fearful of being hit by a car. As Le Corbusier said, it’s a city that keeps the same energy alive that was built into the lines of communication and the architectu-res of past historic city centers: “at an avera-ge of 3 kilometer per hour, the pace of man, the ox, and the horse”. I would add: and the pace of the small boats and gondolas, as well.

In a few words, how would you descri-be Venice and its way of life? In Venice it seems that time doesn’t fly by, as it does in other cities. The way of life, and the pace of life are quite unique. Everything seems to be in slow-motion: in some parts of the Grand Canal - not so much these days as it once was - we patiently await the ar-rival of the gondola that takes us from one end of the canal to the other. The water is in charge, and everything revolves around the natural cycle of high and low tides. Light reflected from the water accentuates and emphasizes colors, the lighted and shaded areas created by the buildings. Our life in Venice is different than in any other city, not just in Italy, but I’d say different from anywhere else in the world. It’s a pleasure to walk around, to stop on a bridge to ad-mire the canal and the play of light reflected in the water, the houses and buildings, all of which has a theatrical quality that leaves you spellbound. All of these “visual remin-ders” are the vital fluids of an artist life!

So rather than weighing you down, Venice’s uniqueness stimulated you?

Living in Venice, in contact with such a dif-ferent lay-out, in a city filled with works of art and with an urban fabric so unique, has profoundly stimulated me. I think that vi-sions of the city and its history have, without

doubt, influenced my artistic voyage: from the Byzantine and Roman art to the flowe-ry Gothic art, from the Renaissance up to classic art, from the Baroque period to the 1800’s. Paintings that figure among the most famous in the history of art can be ad-mired in our churches and galleries. Strol-ling through our narrow streets and squares you become aware, not only of the works of the grand Masters, but also of the arti-san works seen everywhere: the top of co-lumns, the doors, the parapets around wel-ls, the handrails, the bridges and drinking fountains all perpetuate a life filled with art. This thriving environment, filled with fa-mous works that has been part of the city for centuries, can’t help but stimulate in each of us a heightened sensitivity to creative works.

When did you begin to commercialize your artwork?

My attitudes regarding commercializa-tion, in the field of artwork, could be seen ever since I was a child, when I succeeded in scraping up a few coins by selling pain-tings which were displayed in restaurants and in a few collective exhibits that I set up with my friends from the Art Scho-ol. Once finished with my studies and in parallel with my teaching activities, I al-ways had the intention of launching a busi-ness with my works, starting with abstract themes, conveying through these pictu-res the special atmosphere of my Venice.

Your interest in the Commedia dell’Arte and in depicting its principal protagonists came out at the Academy of Fine arts; how did it become a focus for you in your workshop, and why is the workshop named “Schola”?

This happened gradually. Let’s look back on the famous workshops of Masters like Carpaccio, Giorgione, Bellini, Tiziano, and in the same school of urban landscape pain-ters, Canaletto and Guardi. In this period famous “schools” flourished in Venice, where Masters taught the arts of drawing, painting, sculpture and etching, etc. It was

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from that tradition that I took the name of my first workshop, which faced the splen-did renaissance Basilica of Saint Zaccaria, designed by the celebrated architect Co-dussi, just a short distance from San Mar-co. I took the name “Schola San Zaccaria” from this old Venetian tradition, a name that I’ve kept even after moving the wor-kshop to its present location in the Castello section of town, on the “Salizzata dei Gre-ci”, a street characteristic of that section.

What were your first work experien-ces?

While I was a student at the Institute of Art, a few students from the Architectu-re department asked me to collaborate with them on their exams and theses. I also worked on well-known architectural studies as a planning draftsman for Scat-tolin, Vallot, Chirivi, Bortoluzzi, etc. You could say that I first started at the age of 12, when an engineer hired me for 5000 li-

ras a week in the days before computers, to do professional quality technical drawings with pen and ink on vellum, for presen-ting his plans to the Building Commission.

Before you opened your studio in Ve-nice, were you engaged in other acti-vities?

Even before I enrolled in architecture clas-ses, I loved to experiment with design. I en-tered in planning contests and received some recognition: I remember the first prize that came with a gold medal, that was conferred on me by the Minister of Public Education in 1970, for a “Plan for an element of illu-mination other than glass”; the extraordi-nary mention at the banquet dinner for the home furniture contest in Cantù: “Furniture for Living”; and entering the goldsmiths’ contest in Vicenza with a “design for a je-welry box”. Also, before graduating in ar-chitecture, I had already collaborated with

Campo S. Zaccaria a VeneziaPen and ink 1983 cm.35x50

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well-known designers, doing drawings such as architectural renderings of the hospi-tal at Potenza, for high-level competitions.

After graduation, I competed independently in several design competitions: from the “ga-zebo” at Rimini to the “multi-purpose scho-lastic center” at Idro in the province of Bre-scia, to the famous international competition for “the most beautiful house in the world”. During my stay in Rome, in the 1970s, I col-laborated over a period of time in an inter-national design studio run by Masino and Gilberto Vale, and with a business that pro-duced designer items. I found it satisfying, when in a competition at the State Institute of Art, where I had taught a course in experi-mental design, that aside for first and second prize, many honorable mentions were awar-ded to students who had taken my courses.

Have any of your home furnishing and architectural design plans ever been built?

I remember when the building commission gave its preliminary approval to my plan for an agricultural annex which had a uni-que flavor, inspired by classic architectural design coupled with a contemporary fun-ctionality. I called the final product “the agricultural temple” because it drew from the canon of ancient Greece aesthetic prin-ciples, or to be more specific, I would add, from classic theater design such as we see in Andrea Palladio’s works. Another building project, based on my plans in the same area, transformed an old home with an agricultu-ral annex into a two-family home, leaving intact the original layout, which is traditio-nal in that region, but repurposing the ori-ginal rustic materials, such as the boulders from Piave, and highlighting them by their contrast against a background of modern wall plaster, illuminated by radiant ligh-ting. Other of my designs that have been built include home furnishings: “retracta-ble” kitchens, tables and desks, armoires, lighting fixtures, etc. All of these creations strive for flexibility and the possibility of using several together, adapting them ac-cording to their use and function, to change

the look and feel of spaces. Other exam-ples of my works that have been built in-clude wrought-iron gates, entryways, retai-ning walls, marble sculptures, flooring, etc.

How did you move from your expe-riences in technical planning into the more artistic realm? Even while I was planning and carrying out these design projects, I never abando-ned my passion for the arts. My first sati-sfying experiences, in this field, came from the Institute of Art: at the age of 11, in the first course I took at the Institute of Art, my drawing and painting teacher, Archi-tect Giuseppe Davanzo, awarded me a few prizes for my works. The citation read: ”for the quantity of works produced, by compa-rison to his classmates, with notable results achieved thanks to a demonstrated creati-vity, and by the uniqueness of the subjects in the paintings, which belong to a very personal fantasy world.” From that point on, I never abandoned this particular per-spective, returning often to my canvases, to the brushes and paints, along with technical drawings, between one project and the next.

Your actual work at the “Schola San Zaccaria”: how did it take shape?

In the 1970s I managed to bring my per-spective on creative drawing into practice - after being away from them for so long while I taught at Trento, Rome, and Civi-tavecchia - bringing to fruition many of the technical artistic experiences I had acquired earlier. So many of these ideas show them-selves fully only after the “schola” was ope-ned. It was there that they found their way into what I produced, incentivized by clients purchasing my artwork. The graphic arts in general, like lithography, etching, silk-screening, and especially drawings with In-dia ink and watercolors, allowed me to give my creations a new look, fresh and viva-cious, immediate and personal. It was like the creating and improvising in sketches for set designs that I had done, many years before that, at the Academy of Fine Arts.

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What were your commercial begin-nings like? What were your subjects? Maybe it was an omen that the first painting I sold, to a French couple, when I opened my first workshop in Venice, was a tempera painting on paper of one of the Commedia dell’Arte characters, a Pantalone (done in the style of Carlo Goldoni), which was a fi-gure that I painted during my studies at the Academy. I only had a few pictures in the shop: a few of set designs that an art dealer bought for very little, a few faces of musi-cians, as interpreted by Longhi in the 1700s, and a Harlequin that I had improvised using colored inks during my studies in set design. Given that the customers continued to ask me for paintings of those characters, I began to raise the price almost through an uncon-scious desire not to let them go. The final leap came with my first exhibit outside Italy, in Austria at Innsbruck, during the 1980s , where I began to portray the various Com-media dell’Arte characters, decomposing them through several consecutive sketches, to arrive at their abstract core elements. Fol-lowing that, the Director of the Museum of Modern Art, Guido Perocco, presented my works at an exhibition in Venice, and gave

me the motivation, by his appreciation, to pursue my studies and to continue showing the characters in my paintings to the public.

What techniques do you use, on which materials, and how big are your works?

Ever since I started studying at the Aca-demy of Fine Arts, I’ve had a predilection for sketching outlines with black India ink or cuttlefish ink, which I could then fill in with colored inks, on various materials: from pa-per made from plants, to black or colored watercolor paper, and even collage, When I opened my first workshop on the Campo San Zaccaria in Venice, I temporarily put these techniques aside to dedicate my ef-forts to landscape paintings of Venice, using spatula knives with acrylic paints on canvas. After a few years I returned to the theatrical subjects that I studied at the Academy of Fine Arts. The India ink drawings, colored with watercolor brushwork on beige watercolor paper or on translucent vellum, depicted my interpretation of the historic, iconic cha-racters found in Italian theater. After much experimentation with various art papers, I discovered a rag paper, made completely by

Astrazione di Arlecchino in bacino S.MarcoWatercolour cm.20 x 30

hand from linen and hemp. It took me quite a while to learn to draw on this paper with a pen and India ink, due to the combination of its rough surface and, most of all, my per-sonal propensity for drawing quickly and spontaneously. If the pen and ink drawings on this paper presented certain challenges, the way that the paper worked with the wa-tercolors made up for it: I became absorbed in the thousand brilliant and vivid hues it conferred on my subjects and my creations.

Aside from your own unique style, have you been able to adopt other gra-phic techniques for producing multi-ple copies of your works? Attending courses at the International School of Graphics allowed me to get to know a few specialists with whom I was able to collabo-rate in practical applications of the graphic techniques that I found most satisfying, like lithography on stone, on metal sheets, and acid etching. I also produced silk-screen wor-ks using multiple frames with as many as 11 different colors. Later, the computer expan-ded my ability to experiment with an infinite number of creative ideas, as you can see by vi-siting the current Contemporary Art Exhibit.

Speaking of Art Exhibits, have you had a chance to exhibit your works in art shows?

I’ve participated in art shows, exhibiting my works, ever since my first years at the State Institute of Art in Venice. I remember that when I was 12 years old I exhibited still-life fantasies in the Palazzo di Ca’ Giustinian in Venice. After the ’70s, in the San Salvador Gallery in the Rialto section of town, my pain-tings inspired so much interest that much to my surprise, they were all purchased. After my first one-man shows in Italy, which were in Venice and Milan, I had the good fortune of meeting a professor from one of the uni-versities in Boston. Enthusiastic about my Commedia dell’Arte works, he organized se-veral exhibits in the United States. What fol-lowed were one-man exhibits in Europe: Au-stria, Germany, Scotland, Portugal, Spain,

Israel, Egypt, France, and Hungary, and outside Europe, after the United States, Ja-pan, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates.

Then, mostly through the efforts of the Fo-reign Affairs Director for Italian Cultural Institutes abroad, I was invited to show in Innsbruck, Lisbon, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Monaco, Alexandria in Egypt, etc. I also participated almost every year with the International Association of Artistic Ar-chitects in shows in Venice, Stockholm, Paris, Prague, Warsaw, Edinburgh, etc.

Have you also been commissioned to paint subjects that fell outside your comfort zone?

In the ’90s, when I was already immersed in abstract art, interpreting and finding the essence within my subjects, I was commis-sioned to depict the 14 Stations of the Cross to adorn the internal walls of a church. This was a break in my work which allowed me to return to set design, but with a different point of view. These paintings were all pu-blished in a book, with commentary for each Station written by the Pope at that time. The critic Paolo Rizzi, in his writing about my works, noted that these paintings, which dealt with themes common to sacred art, never strayed far from the way I depicted fi-gures in theatrical settings. Ten years later I had also completed an altarpiece depicting the Resurrection of Christ, which after th-ree years of work allowed me to reconsider, with a modern perspective, the treatment of sacredness among the classical Masters, and bringing different pieces together, to depict them in a fresh light, always drawing on the-atrical concepts. Even if this was not among my more well-recognized works, I was de-eply touched by the appreciation shown by Pope John Paul II when he included among his Personal Meditations comments on my Stations of the Cross series, painted for the Church, and published in the aforementio-ned book which was dedicated to these wor-ks.

LA RESURREZIONETecnica mista su tela in foglia d’oro e d’argento cm. 200x150

Rio veneziano 1970 watercolour cm. 30 x 40

Colombina al ponte dei Sospiri 1978 watercolour cm.30x40

Watching the sequence of images, it seems the figure gradually develops. In reality, my work starts from the interpretation of a typical character of the 17th and 18th Century’s theatre, often belonging to the Italian “Commedia dell’Arte”. By analysing the figure starting from its outline, I try to discover the body containing it in order to study its form and content. As though I would reveal the inward and indissoluble soul of an image inherited from our tradition, eternal, therefore present and contemporary. Star-ting from the figure’s shape, anatomy, and movement, the drawing develops to get its essential lines. My studies in architecture, completed in the 70ies under the gui-dance of Carlo Scarpa, influenced my technical and artistic educa-tion, but my work was determined by my studies in theatre and stage design, completed by the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice. By de-composing the figure into its essential parts, I am showing the opposi-tion between full and empty spaces, like in an architectonic drawing, through some coloured boundary lines that foreshadow the suggesti-ve atmosphere of the final result. Such result does not only represent a graphic synthesis of the “historical” character that originated this study, but is rather a “personal” inventive improvisation. I feel that the figure develops through an emotional push of gra-phic and pictorial elaboration that makes me superimpose several images. As though starting from the baroque age of the character, I could get to the present days in an abstract synthesis. The final result comes from an inner search, that is the analysis of the previous steps, and it derives from a creative fervour, from an intu-itive emotion that goes beyond the pure geometrical decomposition. In fact, numberless drawings could be developed from the original figure, but what I experience since the beginning, through the libera-tion of the creative thought, is in that only graphic synthesis. One reminds Michelangelo’s words when, in the 16th Century, revealed his way to obtain the sculptures he perceived inside the sto-ne block. To give them birth, it was just enough to set them free, that is, to discard the material in excess around them.

Gianfranco Missiaja

The Artist’s Comment

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Astrazione diColombina e Arlecchino

Watercolour cm. 20 x 40

ESPOSIZIONI – EXHIBITIONS – AUSTELLUNGEN

1960 Venezia Italia Ca’ Giustinian Venezia Italia Galleria S.Vidal 1983 Venezia Italia P.S.Maria Elisabetta Milano Italia Studio PalazziVenezia Italia S.Nicolò dei mendicoli 1984 Venezia Italia Scuola di S.Teodoro Venezia Italia Casinò del LidoVenezia Italia Scuola di S.G.EvangelistaVenezia Italia Galleria degli AlberoniPesaro Italia Festival dei due Mondi New Orleans U.S.A. Fair Pavillon 1987 Winchester U.S.A. Public Library Belmont U.S.A. Gallery Hut 1988 Innsbruck Austria Istituto Italiano di Cultura Belmont U.S.A. Belmont Public Library Winchester U.S.A. Art Frame Gallery Winchester U.S.A. Art Association Gallery 1989 Alessandria d’Egitto Egitto Istituto Italiano di Cultura Lisbona Portogallo Teatro Maria Matos Gerusalemme Israele Teatro Sherower Tel Aviv Israele Teatro Habina 1990 Venezia Italia Ca’ Vendramin Calergi 1991 Marsiglia Francia Gallerie Intermezzo 1993 Tokio Giappone Galleria Seraru Berg Germania Rathaus Berg Graz Austria Merkur Galerie Monaco Germania Istituto Italiano di Cultura 1994 Gorlitz Germania Großen Saal der Stadt

1995 Venezia Italia Palazzo delle Prigioni 1996 Stoccarda Germania Municipio 1997 Parigi Francia Galerie Le bugatti

1998 Madrid Spagna El Corral de la Moreria

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1999 Venezia Italia Schola dei Tiraoro e Battioro 2000 Venezia Italia S. M. Ausiliatrice

2001 Metz Francia Parc des Expositions Venezia Italia Galleria Tintoretto 2002 Verona Italia Castelvecchio 2002Budapest Ungheria M. Internazionale d’arte 2003 Venezia Italia Galleria Tintoretto 2004 Venezia Italia Mostra Intern. d’Arte degli Architetti Artisti 2005 Verona Italia Palazzo renato Birolli Parigi Francia Salle de Fetes Place du Panthèon 2006 Stoccarda Germania Palazzo Comunale di StoccardaMontreal Canada Gallerie La Mezzanine 2007 Milano Italia Certosa di Garegnano

2008 Praga Cecoslovacchia Cappella Ex ospedale italiano Venezia Italia Ex chiesa S.Maria AusiliatriceVenezia Italia Scholetta di S.Zaccaria Parigi Francia Jean Tiberi Depute de Paris Maire du V° arrondissement Stoccarda Germania Rathaus 2009 Parigi Francia Mairedu VI° Arrondissement Place S.Sulpice Venezia Italia Scuola dei Calegheri

2010 Parigi Francia Panthéon Mostra Intern. d’Arte degli Architetti Artisti Verona Italia Spazio espositivo ex MacelloDubai Emirati Arabi Sheraton Jumeira beach Resort & Towers

2011 Verona Italia Spazio Espositivo Renato Birolli ex MacelloParigi Francia Mairie du 6e arrondissement, 78 rue Bonaparte Edinburgh Scozia 3 Saville Terrace

2012 Catania Italia Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia Glasgow Scozia House for an ART LOVER Dumbreck Road 2013 Parigi Francia Esposizione internazionale degli architetti artisti Venezia Italia Palazzo delle Prigioni attiguo Palazzo Ducale Milano Italia Spazi ex Ansaldo OCA Milano Italia Arte Passante di Porta Garibaldi2014 Stoccarda Germania Esp. Internazionale degli Arch. Artisti

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Gianfranco Missiaja was born in Venice in 1947 where he still li-ves and works. Qualified in architecture, he studied at the State Institute of Art and at the Accademia di Belli Arti in set design. He taught design and projecting for over 20 years in Trento, Rome, Civitavecchia and Venice. Member of the Internationsl associates of architect- artists, af-ter some exhibitions in Italy, from 1980 on he exhibited 8 times in tyhe U.S.A. receiving several prizes from International juries. We remember his main exhibitions abroad, Japan, Canada, Fran-ce, Germany, Hungary, Cecoslovakia, Israel, Egypt, Austria, Spain, etc.He was invited to several Italian Insitutes of Culture in order to exhibit his works abroad.

Interview by Paolo Rosa Salva

Paolo Rosa Salva was born in Venice in 1948. Son of an artist-architect, he did artistic studies in the field of architec-ture. He taught in the Accademia di Belli Arti in Venice in the section on vi-sual representation in both traditional and information technology. He carries out work both as a critic as a designer and exhibits in the Cultural galleries and institutes. He both lives and works in Venice.

www. gianfrancomissiaja.it www.scholasanzaccaria.come-mail : info@venicegallery.it

ATELIER: Castello n. 3456 - 30122 VENEZIA Tel. +39.041.5234343 mob. +39.348.2242326