Curated by Massimiliano Bisazza.
Hidden Truths
«Sometimes a man's shadow is more in the room than he is. […] It's all running down, it's all dying»(Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon)
Ida Budetta is with no doubt a fine and talented painter, with experience both of painting techniques and of drawing. Her art is rich in expressive content and of metaphoric, subliminal and powerful message.
After recently achieving a well-deserved success in China - Hong Kong, Ida is now back in Brera, in the famous art district of Milan, where she is holding an exhibition at the Galleria d'Arte Contemporanea STATUTO13.
The characters depicted in the new exhibition in Milan are full of ideas leading to reflection, to internalization of what is happening around us and within us.
It is my opinion that Francis Baconclearly identifies the urgency of the moment, the same moment to which also Ida Budetta take us back with great mastery. She makes use of the “other and only” means of drawing for raising awareness of modern life, where people are often inattentive and interested only in media and other trivialities, as requested by the present times.
Ida Budetta’s paintings are filled with vivid and clear references to the medieval and Renaissance styles, like the pleasant lenticular details in the Flemish style and the pristine faces often depicted: these formal and expressive elements well represent her way of making art.
There was a time I felt the need to remain silent while staring at the creative emphasis through which Ida exposed the major problems of our society. Now I can feel a sort of “scream”, far from being voiceless, escaping the paintings, the drawings and the painted panels, a scream so powerful and effective that leaves me speechless.
Ida Budetta screams at this stage of her artistic career. She desperately screams her complaint, her refusal, her non-conformity, her non-adaptation, her non-adjustment to the lack of consistency or even worse to the massive hypocrisy that mortally dominates us.
This act of courage is typical of her artistic style. It is a dutiful act for both the human race and for herself, always faithful to her principles of honesty and moral rightness and opposed to the ruling code of silence.
Then and only then, once you learned these reading tools, you are finally able to fully understand the poetry of this artist. It rarely happens that an artist like Ida Budetta has the power to “scream” her way of thinking through her paintings and express it through her verbal silence.
“Angel with Two Faces”, “Guilty Silent Angel” and “Collector Angel” depict a series of angels of catastrophe, therefore hermaphrodite beings, bearers of lust, duplicity, corruption, obscenity and iniquities deriving from the Italian politics.
The looks on the faces of the characters that populate the paintings of Ida Budetta have always opaque eyes, almost tightened. The metaphor of "those who refuse to see" is always present (for example: "In the factory BLINDFOLDED GUILTY") and reverberates strongly and deliberately (as if the notes composed a minuet on two forms that finally combine) only for a mere choice of advantage of the characters refracted through the depressing reality of those who refuse to see and hear.
In "Let them germinate" the author comforts us with the faint hope that good ideas always prevail and finally emerge. It is almost like she tries to shed a glimmer of hope, overcoming the obviousness and the apathetic dogmas to which the modern man is unfortunately accustomed to. "For not losing the thread" follows the same theme of Ida’s belief - a circular painting on wood from which derives the name - without ever forgetting yet giving a tautological and miraculous value to the exhibition.
We are surrounded by individuals who lack any sort of sensitivity or empathy, with their overwhelming needs and demands, not caring about our personal needs: "Adagio piercing" is the perfect representation of this idea.
Egoism and apathy reign supreme. In a sad, desolate and almost apocalyptic dimension, “The Merchant of Nothing" has almost the image of a vulture. He knowingly saddles us with every sort of drug and chemical substance to get us addicted and subjugated, like a common drug dealer.
The figures of “The Merchant of Nothing" are therefore portrayed as empty terracotta heads, fragile and hung as forms of cheese and they are ready to be eaten or destroyed, depending on the vanity and fancy of the moment. Human beings do not exist anymore, men and women with no personality let themselves be overwhelmed by events, by now devoid of any power or decision-making capacity.
Ida Budetta presents many opportunities for reflection. Not ultimately she decides to portrait strong and significant characters and subjects, as in the case of violence against women or of unfair justice. Yet, what surprises me is her renewed capacity for reinventing herself in the latest works, resorting, for example, to more surreal and oneiric settings. Her works of art are indeed imbued with a powerful surrealism that lets the mind free to express its innermost feelings with an emotional automatism hovering between instinct and rational choice, which the painter uses and measures with mastery.
If Metaphysics can be described as the representation of dream world, surrealism instead leads us directly to the dream experience, thanks to the upsetting and unexpected figures. What is normal? Who defines what is normal? What can you gather from an applicable rule?
"The cry of the planet" make us keep our feet on the ground, on the real Earth and not the dream one. The denunciation of the exploitation of the planet, the false empathy of human beings towards their own land is perfectly described in this work. The main character is a non listening man – whose ears are actually closed – who pretends to take care of his horse (which stands for the Earth). In reality, the man is exploiting its natural wealth – as in the case of the gold represented in the form of jewelry, an extremely valuable material whose extraction method damages and dries out our planet.
Exploitation of nature is a particularly heartfelt issue raised by Ida Budetta; “Overflowing declined” shows the useless waste of water on our planet, a recurring theme in her paintings. This concerning issue, hic et nunc, is a discordant element that alters the balance of the Earth, especially if we consider the equatorial zone of the planet where a large number of people still suffer from water shortage.
That raises another question: how many people care about the availability of such a fundamental human need? The answer that is appropriate to me is: There is no real economic interest... And I would like to add that Ida Budetta has the knowledge and strength to report these inequalities by giving voice to the noble tool of Art.
The underlying balance between the objects portrayed in the paintings of Ida Budetta are particularly precarious (in "Political Angel with carapace", see for example the point base jugs: these objects cannot exist based on the law of gravity, since they lack a stable base). Yet, they support a center of gravity, although it may look quite paradoxical.
What can be more metaphorical than such an example of precarious balance representing an ineffectual and corrupt politics?
Ida Budetta is always capable of delivering surprises and she places great emphasis in "Political Angel with carapace" where the five jug spouts change according to the needs of the moment. That is what usually happens in politics, where personal advantage beats general welfare and where personal interests prevail.
Finally, some pencil sketches (titled "Excerpts") are included in the exhibition in Milan so that the viewers are able to be part of the artistic path which inspired Ida Budetta and experience her modus operandiin terms of graphics, semiotics and technique as well as the skills which Ida Budetta has always learned and developed with mastery.
Ida Budetta presents this new and confident artistic project where different hidden truths are imbued with admirable lyricism.
The words of Bertold Brecht, well known poet and dramatist, are perfect to express the latent meaning of this exhibition. And I think that there is no better way to end this composition that honors the exceptional talent of such a discreet and perceptive artist.
«Who does not know the truth is simply a fool…Yet who knows the truth and calls it a lie is a criminal».
"Sonata for the right to folly" is a special theme for the artist: she has a special commitment to make sure that the right to sanity is protected and secured. The Basaglia Law contained directives for the closing down of the old psychiatric hospitals and led to their gradual replacement with a whole range of community-based services. Needless to say, that law was never enacted nor respected.
Massimiliano Bisazza