Le basier, La saveur des larmes and L’empire des lumières. These are the three paintings by René Magritte which impressed me the most during the visit to the exhibition now taking place in my town, Como. An exhibition that is getting a lot of positive comments both from the critics and from the public and will probably reach and then exceed the number of visitors of the two exhibitions devoted to Picasso (77,000 visitors) and Mirò (70,000) which have taken place in the same rooms of the awesome Villa Olmo in the last two years.
I really liked it and I recommend that you visit the MagritteComo website to get the right directions to come here in Como and visit the exhibition. It will last until the 16th of July.
I spent two hours admiring all of the 80 creations of the Belgian Genius and felt relaxed and enriched when I exited the Villa. I used the word Genius since he refused the title of “artist” preferring the title “thinking man” since he considered himself as someone who communicated his thoughts through painting just as others did using music or writing.
Villa Olmo and its park on the lake is the perfect place to host such surrealist pieces of art. Inside the Villa they used the Dilumo, which stands for Dispositivi luminosi mobili” (mobile lightning devices). They’re light metal structures covered with the black sheet used in theatrical sets. Every piece is illuminated by optical fibers. That’s the only light in the exhibition and contributes a lot to the mysterious atmosphere you feel along the route.
I read some interesting things about the life of Magritte and in particular I recall that he enjoyed inviting groups of friends to show them his latest paintings and play the “title game” to choose the title for them.
Too bad the audioguides you can use along the exhibition route only cover 22 of the 80 pieces. Probably I won’t miss the chance to visit it a second time, maybe accompanied by a really knowledgeable real guide!
In my opinion the latest mobile technology could be very useful in this kind of events and in fact it’s the subject matter of a project I’ve been working on since last year. More news about it soon.