Antonio Ciccone Art Drawings - Florence, Italy

Cari Amici,
I spent the 25th of May in Sesto Fiorentino, Italy, with my friend Hafiza to help her celebrate her birthday. Once again her generosity showed itself when she gave me her bici (bike). She is a beaut! A jogger, who took a break when she saw me trying to balance my camera on a trash can, took this image. I was riding home from the (train) stazione, trying to remember the last time I rode a bicycle.

However, I did not use questo bici until today, 31 May. In Florence, there is a pretty healthy bike theft business, with stolen bikes often sold to the many students here. I want to avoid becoming a victim in this situation and it took me several days to find the right friend to advise me on which bike locks were the best. And there was also the rain to consider. But today, I was flying high, zigzagging down some of the less car-traveled streets of Florence as I made my way to the reception of artist Antonio Ciccone at Casa di Dante.

Antonio studied with Pietro Annigoni, one of Florence’s more recent art heroes. I heard that many years ago, Antonio moved from the more representational style of Annigoni to America and its more modern movement/style. He has been back in Florence for a while now and is doing representational charcoal portraits. (He also attended last week’s reception for the mostra that included two of my drawings. The maestro Michael John Angel also studied with the late Pietro Annigoni.)

Art critic John T. Spike gave a warm introduction (in Italian) to Antonio Ciccone, while Rossella Annigoni, Pietro Annigoni's second wife and widow, smiled warmly nearby.


I photographed some detail shots of these lovely drawings. (Please pardon the reflexions in the glass.) I was impressed by the subtlety of tone combined with a sure hand and strong lines. I even enjoyed the artist’s signature!


And finally, I was able to meet the artist. Surprisingly enough, I am a shy person and it was only because my artist friend Francesco wanted to photograph me with the artist that I was introduced to him. Being the star of the show, Antonio did not have much time to speak with me, but he seemed genuinely charming and I was happy to meet him. And then look at more of the drawings, as Francesco continued to take many fotos throughout the exhibit.

Ciao a presto! And thank you for your interest.
Kelly

City-Wide Art V Exhibit – Florence, Italy

In bella Italia, if you want to see art, you most likely will enter a church. That is true of this week in Florence as well. It feels great being accepted into a juried art exhibit and opening night is especially fun. One gets to meet so many other artists and art lovers that might never cross one’s path any other way. Tonight was the reception for the City-Wide Art V mostra in Florence, Italia, the same city that is currently hosting the Biennale Internazionale dell’Arte Contemporanea or the Florence Biennale, now through 9 Dicembre.

Art critic and historian John T. Spike juried the City-Wide exhibit and gave a speech tonight that spoke of how exciting it was for him to see the contemporary art created in Florence. And reminded all of us of the legacy of the art created in Florence throughout history. Indeed.

Pictured in the group shot is John Spike, just right of center. To his left is Keith McBride, organizer of the City-Wide Art exhibit. This event is being held at the St. James Church, Via Bernardo Rucellai, 9, in Florence. My friend Simone told me that this is where David Bowie got married. Check it out soon – it ends this Saturday. See my exhibits page for details.

Oh, and the other photos are some of us just goofing around: Nancy Hines hams it up in front of her lovely drawing of our friend and fellow artist Jason. (Photo published with approval ;-) And artists Kieran and Hélène let me know that they will not hesitate in pulling out the euros for my lovely bronze “Ten.”

Now, I must get some sleep. Much work to do tomorrow. Thank you for reading!

PS Comcast appears to be blocking my borsheimarts.com e-mail addresses as spam. If you have a comcast.net e-mail address and also signed up for my mailing list and somehow are missing these letters, you may need to contact Comcast and ask them how to solve the problem so you get the news you want. Ciao, belli.