Combining the name of Gaetano Castelli, world-famous set designer, with the nickname “painter” may seem unusual, because few people know that painting has always been his passion.
The professional life of Gaetano Castelli took the path of scenography, (he was the first to bring the canons of painting, sculpture and architecture to the stage), but over the years the links with painting have become closer to with the continuous production: Castelli has never stopped painting: “for myself”, as he says.
His painting, in fact, remained an exquisitely private matter, until the critic Paolo Levi, visiting his studio in Rome, discovered the Painter Gaetano Castelli, and urged him to show his works. Since then the paintings have been exhibited with critical and public success in England, China and finally in Rome.
The title of the exhibition “La Magia del Costume” tells its contents. Paintings that speak of costume, which the artist defines as an integral part of the show.
The clothes are nothing more than pretexts to be able to paint, models invented by the painter who transposes them on canvas in the most scenic and elegant way that can be imagined. “If you follow mannequins or still life – Vittorio Sgarbi commented on Castelli’s works – you can notice the radicalism of the translation of the image, which seems to descend from the Baroque tradition, with all the consequences that this entails. The objects at the center of his paintings exhibit their most spectacular and dramatic aspect ”.
“I use the costume as a pretext to introduce the visitor to the magical world of color, light and fantasy. By painting costumes, worn by faceless mannequins, I invite the viewer to dream about what character is playing that role and wearing that costume.”
Gaetano Castelli
