Covid-19 (2020) Pintura por Raffaele Ciotola

''COVID-19'' UNIQUE WORK OF ART !

Sui generis artist in the field of Italian contemporary art, Raffaele Ciotola is a figurative but not realistic painter. He is not interested in representing the truth, he wants to express the emotion or the feeling that he has in his heart at that moment. In the first ten days of March 2020, just a few days after the outbreak of the Coronavirus in Italy, his heart overflowed with pain and tears for the martyrs of the terrible pandemic: those who first fell ill and then died and those who nursed them among a thousand difficulties even risking their own lives. Many of them, in fact, among doctors, nurses and healthcare workers have died. A drama within the drama. Raffaele Ciotola rashly felt the need to realize a painting, oil on jute canvas, in memory of all the victims of the COVID-19 and of those working to contain the destruction of the virus. With this work the artist expresses suffering in the world, pain but at the same time his search for contact with the world. COVID-19 is an essential and calm work, but rich in meaning.
Against the backdrop of an indecipherable dark unidentified room, pain and death hover in a gloomy silence. Even the floor where three long rows of coffins are placed is dark. There is a minimum of perspective, just enough because here there is no before nor after, but everything takes place at the same time. It is a crucifixion that shows many analogies with the classical Jesus Christ’s iconography. A large cross stands out in the foreground with the inscription COVID-19 in place of the acronym I.N.R.I. Instead of our Lord we see a person crucified. He is neither a woman nor a man: he is a human being, a symbol for all the healthcare workers who sacrificed themselves during the pandemic to save, certainly not the whole humanity, but surely those who ended up under their care. The head is bowed towards the right shoulder and the open eyes express enormous sadness and great discouragement. The sadness of those who felt powerless against a so big pain and the discouragement of those who had to fight against time and a thousand obstacles: related to staff, materials, medicines. The body is straight, not arched or curved like that of Jesus is. It remains fixed, stiller than the wood of the cross, without betraying any pain. The legs are not bent and you cannot see if the feet are crossed and pierced by a nail. It wears the light green coat, typical of doctors and hospital nurses, which covers arms and legs just as we saw them on television and instead of the crown of thorns there is a cap on the head. A white mask hides the mouth and the nose and a stethoscope hangs around the neck. The hands are gloved in blue plastic and a nail is sticked into their palms. From the two wounds a red stream of blood comes out, that recalls the color of the virus at the bottom, round like a ball, placed on a triangular base of white marble streaked with gray color, which is in front of the feet of the crucifix. It looks like a small altar. The prominent position of the viral globe and its bright red color only reinforce its winning image. In fact it has not been defeated yet. At the end of a so great suffering, however, the artist points out a sign of hope. In the painting, the combination of white, red and green colors recalls the Italian flag that represents, in this sad period of our country, the unity of the population enduring with great dignity the isolation and loss of loved ones. "I realized this work for gratitude, for fear and with the purpose of remembering that evil is always lying in wait - Raffaele Ciotola explains - My body and mind are weak. But in the meantime, I do everything I can to respect the rules of protection of hygiene and behavior: keep your distance, wash your hands......and so we go on".

Anna Amendolagine

Independent superintendent, essayist, journalist.

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Covid-19Raffaele CiotolaCoronavirusArtisti FamosiArte