'' COVID-19 ''
Work of art dedicated to the victims of the Coronavirus.
Raffaele Ciotola is a peculiar artist in the field of Italian contemporary art, he is a figurative painter not a realist one. He is not interested in representing the real life, he wants to express the emotion or the feeling that he has in his heart at that very moment. In the first ten days of March 2020, just a few days after the outbreak of 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 treated them among a thousand difficulties even risking their own lives.
In fact, many doctors, nurses and healthcare workers have died. A drama within the drama. Raffaele Ciotola immediately felt the need to realize one painting, an oil on jute canvas, in memory of all the victims of the COVID-19 and of those who worked hard to contain the destruction of the virus. With this artwork the artist expresses the suffering and the pain in the world, but at the same time his search for a contact with the world. COVID-19 is an essential and tidy work, but rich in meaning. Against the backdrop of a big, dark and mysterious room with no details, pain and death reign 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 crucified person. 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, if not the whole humanity, 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 despair. The sadness of those who felt powerless against such a big pain and the despair of those who had to fight against time and a thousand obstacles they had to face concerning staff, materials and medicinal products.
The body is straight, not arched or curved like that of Jesus. It remains still, steadier than the wood of the cross, without letting any pain leak out. The legs are not bent and you cannot see if the feet are crossed and pierced by a nail. He wears the light green coat, the same that doctors and hospital nurses wear, which covers arms and legs exactly like what we saw on television and instead of the crown of thorns there is a cap on his 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 stuck into their palms. A red stream of blood comes out from the two wounds, it recalls the color of the virus at the bottom, round like a ball, placed on a triangular base of white marble streaked with gray, which is in front of the feet of the Crucified. It looks like a small altar. The prominent position of the viral globe and its bright red color is there to reinforce its winning image. In fact it has not been defeated yet.
Anna Amendolagine
Independent curator, essayist, journalist
The artist Raffaele Ciotola was born in Naples on the 17th of October 1964. His loving and receptive family promoted his studies and supported supporting his artistic nature. He obtained the Artistic High School School graduation and got the Master of Arts degree at the state institute of Arts "Filippo Palizzi" in Naples in 1983. Since he was a boy he has been devoting his life to painting in a professional manner; after his debut in 1980 at an exhibition in his hometown, he kept on taking part in other collective and personal exhibitions set up in several Italian cities until 2002 (Piano di Sorrento, St. Anne in Naples, Milano, Viterbo, Milan). He was awarded the gold medal at the National Biennial of Sacred Art in Torre del Greco in 1980 by prof. Mr Franco Girosi, a famous Neaolitan artist of the last century. It was foundamental for his training, the meetings with prof. Mr Franco Girosi and with Mr Luigi Signore, an artist known as one of the best sculptors of cribs in Italy today.
He studied music and attended the voice class at the Conservatory of Naples, but the meeting he had in Rome in 1987 with Master Mr Renato Guelfi, opera singer and painter, was so crucial to his professional growth that he started performing as a singer in some Italian theatres (Lecce, Santa Maria di Leuca, Ronciglione, Villa Pignatelli in Naples). He got to obtained some rewards such as: the gold medal in "La Triade" Prize, Palazzo Sormani - Sala del Grechetto - Milano; the diploma of honor at St. Anastasia, Naples. His personal exhibition in Tuscia dates back to 2002 , in this occasion he exhibited for the first time at the Sala Anselmi in Viterbo. His painting style and production are characterized by an intense use of colours and by the chiaroscuro effects conveying a whole creative freedom and a boundless vital energy, without hiding any strong and eloquent emotion, leaving the viewer a hope, a light , the one that leads beyond any solitude and that blurs roles and social conventions.
In fact, from the late 90s, his work is more focused on topical issues and feels the effect of his civil commitment against homophobia and discriminatory behaviors, so it became a vehicle to spread some nonconformist messages, even inspired by universal ethical values. In 2003 he created the artistic movement called "Stop Homoph Art" which aims to spread the culture of respect and fight against homophobia. From this battle, "The Madonna of the homosexuals" came to life, it became the emblematic work of his production and will be exhibited for the first time in the foyer of the Mercadante Theater in Naples on the 18th of October 2014.
So his landscapes and his dreamlike hermetic metaphysical views of the first period, they have been gradually replaced by works full of reflection and judgment which are well received by public and by critics, attracting the attention of Mr Jean-Louis Cougnon, Chief Excecutive at General Managment of European Parliament.
In 2018 he created a second artistic movement '' Rock Art Ciotola ''. It aims to embellish famous people around the world in Rock style, with respect and without making fun of them. The style is to tattoo them especially from the shoulders towards the extremity of the neck to elevate their appearance to the highest aesthetic levels.
The work of art '' Italy Against Racism '' dedicated to the fight against '' Racism '' which was appreciated by correspondence by the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella.
* IL MESSAGGERO - Artist affected by HIV paints with his blood: shocking work "to raise awareness among young people"
* Catalog of the international artists of Tuscia - Viterbo - Italy.
* Book '' Raffaele Ciotola and his vitalism '' Ediz. Mondadori, Feltrinelli, IBS, University bookstore
* Catalog of the international artists of Tuscia - Viterbo - Italy.
* Book '' Raffaele Ciotola and his vitalism '' Ediz. Mondadori, Feltrinelli, IBS, University bookstore .