The light of life
In his hyper realistic way ludice is one of the few Sicilian painters of life in all its facets. An example of this unprejudiced look at life is to be found in his acclaimed series on refugees; documenting the universal stories of the human being on the move.
Art, however, should not always carry the burden of social topics. Giovanni ludice’s paintings are social documents registering the everyday life of everyday people. Realising the danger of skillful, but seem-ingly hollow painting, ludice makes sure never to lose its onlooker in his hyper realistic renditions. The artist plays with the apparent banality of images.
The contemporary spectator is only confronted in second instance with the idea that there is more to the image than is evident at first. ludice himself
once stated that you could not talk about reality without confessing there is a mysterious part to it.
The pictorial quality of the image seems to enhance that sense of mystery by a masterful choice of finish; sometimes leaving the preparatory drawing open and untouched, or contrasting colourful areas with areas where colour seems to have been washed away by the burning sunlight. Selected are paintings of his main body of works, dealing with leisure and the good life at the Sicilian coast. Considered by many nature’s greatest gift to the Sicilian people, the sun, we find these paintings bathing in that very light.
They are warm, open, honest and welcoming; in some way very alike to the Sicilian people.
dal Catalogo “The Light of Sicily”
Galleria Maere, Gent (Belgium).