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Lino Mannocci
For this, his second solo exhibition of paintings at Art First, Lino Mannocci has introduced a new element to his visual vocabulary, 'bonfires'. The etymological spelling 'bonefire' (Scotland banefire) was common down to 1760, although 'bonfire' was also in use from 16th century. In its original sense it refers to the practice of collecting and burning bones. The burning of the dead, the passing to air of the body, celebration and farewell, an ending as the passage to a new beginning, smoke as a bearer of signals, a kind of message system - the word is rich in symbolism. It is not clear whether the smoke spires in Mannocci's paintings are emanating from some man-made device or erupting spontaneously out of the surface of the earth. These fires seem to start as tiny sparks and grow to undulating sheaves as they spread and move upwards, allowing the spectator to comprehend in one swoop the vastness and unity of the universe. Though the beauty and lyricism of Mannocci's last exhibition, Storie di Mare is everywhere evident - in the canopied skies, images of sea, cloud, tiny figures - there is a new dramatic quality to these paintings. It is present in the strikingly plastic forms of the banners of smoke, which intersect the canvases at a diagonal or occupy the foreground. The well-defined structure of the composition stresses the dynamic force of the clouds of smoke which from a distance resemble anthropomorphic objects, slightly surreal muscular androgynous torsos dancing with an independent life of their own. Mannocci's involvement with landscape and his often poetic responses to it, connect him to the Romantic tradition. However his handling of paint seems to address 20th century concerns, such as the flatness of the paint surface: here the flatness of the landscape is in conscious tension with the highly modelled forms of the spires of smoke. These may be figurative paintings, but they are not realist. Mannocci's most characteristic device of positioning his images within an internal frame, by leaving a wide border of primed canvas, deliberately draws attention to the artifice of the painting and creates distance. There is a sparseness to his depiction of landscape, everything is reduced to basic elements, sky, earth, cloud, smoke evaporating into air. It is as if everything is being stripped away in order to explore the essential sources of existence. There is a silent ambience, a conscious impression of privacy or enclosure. One has the sensation of being allowed to observe a very private world. Lino Mannocci was born in Viareggio. He studied at Camberwell School of Art (1970-73) and at the Slade (1974-75). Since 1981 he has exhibited regularly in London and Italy. He now lives and works in Montigiano and London.  
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