Πως και πότε ξεκινήσατε να ασχολείστε συστηματικά με την Τέχνη; I started devoting myself to art systematically and continuously for a year. I quickly made up for a lot of time lost in the last 35 years of working as a freelance in which I had stopped producing figurative art and only occasionally continued my musical production.
Καλλιτέχνης γεννιέται κανείς ή γίνεται; There are very few cases in which someone is born an artist. These are exceptional talents, impossible to place. For the rest, it takes skill and a lot of work to become an artist. When I talk about work, I don’t just mean that done to practice one or more techniques, which is also very important. I mean that an artist’s primary job is the interior one, through which he manages to penetrate reality by thoroughly exploring every hidden facet. That implies three qualities that develop over time: Attention, Perseverance, and Honesty.
Σε ποιο ρεύμα ή κίνημα θα εντάσσατε τα έργα σας; I honestly don’t know. I dedicate myself with great passion to portraying people, with whom it is as if an intimate dialogue is established in which they tell about each other, and I am called to the delicate task of transposing the message they communicate to me onto the pictorial surface. Sometimes I hear them talking, although it is usually a photograph in front of me. How can such a current be called? I really don’t know!
Από που αντλείτε την έμπνευση σας; Considering what has been said before, I would say that my most significant source of inspiration are the looks of the people I portray and the fact that I know that by observing them for a long time, I will discover many aspects of their life, sometimes even hidden or obscure or, vice versa, wonderfully engaging to the point of moving me.
Υπάρχουν προσωπικότητες ή άλλοι καλλιτέχνες που έχουν επηρεάσει το έργο σας; I let myself be influenced by the great masters of the past, especially by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, whom I would never dream of imitating or reproducing, rather than grasping the incredible expressiveness of his supernatural masterpieces.
Ποιά είναι η μεγαλύτερη πρόκληση που έχετε θέσει στον εαυτό σας ως καλλιτέχνης; Do not accept further compromises aimed at mere survival. It is being able to live expressing my art to the fullest.
Πόσο αποδεκτή είναι η Τέχνη στην Ελλάδα σήμερα και τι ρόλο καλείται να παίξει στον δημόσιο χώρο; I don’t know the Greek reality so well to be able to answer this question fully. However, I am aware that in Greece, the homeland of Western philosophy, of the harmonious synthesis between human life and that of the planet that hosts us, it was decided to eliminate artistic teaching from high schools, considering it superfluous. I think this is a grave mistake since art is not drawing or playing an instrument, but an extraordinary journey to discover oneself and others. It is the most advanced and beautiful way to socialize. The forced removal of young people from the artistic disciplines will generate frightening social imbalances, and I wonder who benefits from all this!
Ποιά είναι τα μελλοντικά σας σχέδια; I want to explore many other painting techniques after deepening that of the dry pastel, which is currently my main road. Later, I want to devote myself to sculpture and ceramics.
Bio. Mr Rinaldo Santoro
ART STUDIES – INDIVIDUAL / GROUP EXHIBITIONS – DISTINCTIONS
I graduated from the School of Arts in Rome. I started drawing and painting again in 2019, after about 35 years in which I had a professional life away from art. Since I began to try my hand again with the figurative paintings, I have never stopped. I participated in five group exhibitions in Athens at the Time of Art gallery and another at the Marina Keas Gallery. My specialty is portraits. I make portraits on commission starting from a photo of the subject.I am increasing my knowledge of the dry pastel technique through numerous courses held by the teacher Stefania Rosatelli, a high-level painter who has obtained international recognition and even the title of a selection of colors from Sennellier, the pigment factory born at the express request of French impressionists. I will shortly participate in a master held by maestro Ruben Belloso, one of the best pastelists globally, who selected me and nine other pastelists from over 1500 requests.
