My friend and fellow madonnara Gabrielle invited me to an artist’s party recently. She found affordable studio space here in Florence, Italy, and I was absolutely curious as to how she managed that! Turns out it was not far from where I currently live, so this past Sunday afternoon, I just rode my bike over the railroad tracks into the zona di Campo di Marte and with Gabrielle’s help on the phone, I found the place.
The artists who have taken over this abandoned property have dubbed it the “Villa Panico” in honor of its sordid past. The building used to be a hospital of sorts, but was really a place for the mentally ill to be housed away from others. Gabrielle told me that the hospital became abandoned (MANY years ago) after laws changed and it was considered illegal to treat people with mental illness in this way.
The building is in obvious decay, with some parts being very dangerous. Those have been marked off. If you are familiar with economist Richard Florida’s book “The Creative Class,” you might already have an idea of what is going on here. While these young and rather free-spirited artists are finding inexpensive housing, they are also turning the place around.
They are cleaning up the inside, removing debris, painting walls, and creating “community spaces” such as a kitchen and living rooms. The balcony (with protective bars well above human height) sports potted flowers that I have never even seen before. These artists might look a little rough on the edges, a few with piercings and tattoos galore, but these are no idiots or bums. They take care of one another and share a lot of things. They work hard.
They also have a computer room in which they have gotten themselves Internet access, using discarded computers found in the trash bins around Florence. They have repaired many of these using their intelligence and education. Although the grounds look a bit wild still, there is a garden in the back that looks very promising. While I was there, one young Frenchman was hanging electric spotlights in the trees to brighten up the place at night.
Given enough time, these artists could turn “Villa Panico” into a place that others will eventually deprive them of!
Remember Vida, the model for my pastel and charcoal drawing “Il Dono” (The Gift)? Well, he is Gabrielle’s boyfriend and muse, and we decided to try something new for all of us. As figure artists, we rarely draw en plein aire as many landscape artists do. Gabrielle and I got to understand just how quickly the sun (and shadows) move. We ended up moving our model about three times in the course of less than 2 hours.
For our upcoming street painting festival and competition (which I will write about tomorrow), Gabrielle and I will be among about 15 street painters from Florence creating chalk drawings under the theme of “The Life of Saint Paul.” So Gabrielle wanted to do a figure study of the man after he fell from his horse and was converted to Christianity. These last two images (posted with permission) are from our afternoon session. I was so happy to get to use my little paintbox that John and I created from a metal “slide library” box for my first trip to Italy in 2004.
Happy Birthday, Vicky!
1 comment:
Wow -- I recently discovered that this image of the Mona Lisa with a weapon is actually a Banksy. I am curious to know if he did it himself or if this is a copy artist. Anyone with any more information? I am curious a bit now... has Banksy ever worked in Italia?
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