With the advent of Christ, the History completely changes and together with it mankind and its destiny. The philologist Erich Auerbach (whose work I have briefly analyzed) explains that we could find a new idea of God in the Christian literature, a spirit made man, and – closely related to this – a new idea of man, flesh created as an image of God. Each man is an image of the image of God, namely Christ.
Villa Bagatti Valsecchi – Varedo (MB)
8th-30th June 2013
Essay: Claudio Olivieri
Language: Italian
Size: cm 21×21
Pages: 40
Illustrations: 25
Year: 2013
È come un bagliore che mi accoglie entrando, dopo la penombra di una prima stanza, nello studio di Raffaele. Allora, osservando il grande dipinto, mi chiedo se sia finito, appeso alla parete e come in attesa. Forse manca un segno, una stesura, ma è come se già si svolgesse, annunciandosi in questo riverbero abbagliante che ne è già l’essenza, ciò che darà forza al suo compiersi.
C’è una costante nel lavoro di Raffaele Cioffi che, oltre ad un’insistita ed acclarata volontà di interpretare le possibilità dialettiche ed espressive del colore, rimanendo fedele alla tradizione delle ricerche analitico-astratte incentrate sul puro valore della Pittura, lascia trapelare anche una sensibilità orientata da un preciso senso del ritmo e dell’armonia.
Essay: Matteo Galbiati
Language: Italian
Size: cm 23,5×16
Pages: 32
Illustrations: 19
Year: 2012
Essay: Giovanni Maria Accame
Language: German
Size: cm 29,7×21
Pages: 28
Illustrations: 21
Year: 2010
Museo Nazionale Villa Pisani – Stra (VE)
5th-20th September 2009
Long before being an artistic practice, Raffaele Cioffi deeply conceived and lived painting like a decisive event of his own life. I’ve been a precocious witness of his passion as he was one of my students in the course of the History of Contemporary Art at Brera. I can perfectly remember his predilection for Rothko and Newman, whose art would leave an evident trace in his younger works. Almost all his paintings till the beginning of 2000 are based on the conviction of going ahead not only with painting but also with its reasons, by showing somehow its sense, its reflections and its reprocessing.
Artists, as they trust completely the inspiration of their artistic vocation, should never disregard nor betray the sense of their actions and their research and, by showing an affection and a fidelity to their own poetry and their own language – even to the unpredictable variations and tendencies that may come out – they need to connect themselves to their individual thinking and painting. Through the assiduous practice, that goes along with the urgency of communication of their soul, the singular individualism of Art shows a particular feature.