Luigi Ontani (Vergato 1943)

At first Ontani's artistic expression was heterogeneous and in the figurative sphere his art was a fusion of symbolic suggestions and expressionism. In 1965, he painted as a self-taught artist, experimenting with various techniques, and attended the free nude course at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna, during which time he produced his 'Pleonastic Objects'. With the work "Ange Infidele" in 1968, Ontani began his approach to photography. From the very beginning, his photographic works are characterised by a number of distinctive elements: the subject is always the artist, who uses his own body and face to impersonate historical, mythological, literary and popular themes; the format chosen is usually that of the miniature or gigantograph, and each work is considered unique. In the 1970s, he began to be noticed for his tableaux vivants, filmed and photographed performances in which the artist presents himself disguised in various ways: from Pinocchio to Dante, from Saint Sebastian to Bacchus. In 1974 the first important international recognitions began to arrive and in 1977 he exhibited for the first time in New York at the important Sonnabend Gallery. The Orient and the exotic have always exerted a strong attraction on the artist, who at the end of 1974 undertook his first trip to India, where he established a relationship with photographers from different places, producing a cycle of images. As the 1980s progressed, his work was increasingly characterised by dreamy-surreal inspiration and an interest in craftsmanship. Amidst a continuous succession of journeys between East and West, the 1990s consecrated Luigi Ontani as one of the most important Italian artists internationally.