AGAINST THE WIND

Going against the wind is not always an affectation or a mere rebellious act. Taking a different perspective, we may simply follow a path that is familiar to us, though it goes against the wind. Therefore, what makes our way harder is the wind, and not the path itself that goes against a set course.

Where I was born and live, a strong wind blows, the Bora . At times it is a light breeze, in the summer, which relieves form a suffocating heat and refreshes the air, but in the winter the Bora is higher and stronger, it blows forcefully in penetrating and icy gusts, biting your body and even your mind and soul after a few days. At times, when it rains as well, this wind covers with ice everything it encounters. Thus, if you need to get out and do your things there's no choice but learn and live on a course that does not necessarily follows the wind.

Perceiving the puff of wind and adapting your body position to it, according to the direction and the strength it blows, that becomes a sort of an unconscious skill, until you bump into a particularly strong blast of wind, then the two forces clash and for a short while one feels like suspended; and then again forward, with one's collar turned up, struggling along.

And after all, the matter is recognising one's image in the mirror, provided that there is an image in the mirror...

AGAINST THE WIND: THE REALITY BY FULVIO TOMASI

There are different ways to look at reality: an objective point of view, rational and rarely sensitive to life’s more spiritual aspects; an idealist point of view, ascribing a mainly emotional significance to any event, any experience in life. Furthermore, there is a perspective which gives any aspect of life, any feeling an explanation which is ironical, even bizarre, but never desperate, ever looking for the real meaning of things. The latter belongs to those who look under the surface, leaving out the frivolous and misleading characters, the outward appearance that is often given for granted. That is Fulvio Tomasi’s point of view. While Don Quixote saw giants in windmills, Tomasi looks beyond, providing a magical, fanciful vision which, in the words by Italo Calvino, “never exhaustes what it has to say”.
The works by Tomasi give a sagacious look behind the scenes of a reality that is fake and unsustainable, to the point of betraying itself in a number of illusions. Is he provocative and moralist? Definitely not, because Tomasi suggests a mere reflection upon himself and the others, on what surrounds him, without criticizing but rather drawing each one before the mirror he speaks of – our alter ego, our second self and reality as a whole.
What matters, therefore, is the relation between the inner self and society, between the true being and the world it lives in, the never-ending, complicated and alarming labyrinths where an attentive mind wanders without being overwhelmed or influenced. The spectator is struck by the provocative and bright eyes of Il Macchinista (the Engine Driver), is surprised by Wow: Guruz, or is attracted by Mi si surriscalda (Overheating).
Giro d’aria (Draught), instead, gives free rein to useless thoughts – Dov’è l’uscita? (Where’s the exit?) – and finds an answer in the end – L’uscita (The exit) – by following a captivating signal. At times there is even rage, in a Vortice (Vortex) were entrance is not recommended, but at times there is also an enchanting poetry – El Neverin.
Tomasi has an innate sense of the marvellous, a vivid imagination, good skills: engraving is the form that better suits him, and he recalls Baudelaire when he writes that this form of art is the one that better than any other can report the artist’s personality. However, there is room for interpreting his works, for reading the symbolism that underlies them, the messages, the hidden side of things that is often difficult to seize. His works portray the subtle links between things, animals, human beings, parts of a whole in involution; instead of going beyond an ordinary vision of the world, we take for serious a reality which is based on appearance, indifference and injustice. On the world stage we are all leading or supporting actors, with a predetermined script. Tomasi is not a pessimist: there is no resignation and his characters, in the madness of life, look covertly at us, searching in depth, with a sneering expression.
Tomasi is rebellious, wise, ironic, carefree and at the same time thrilling and refined; he knows that what matters is not the outward appearance but what it hides. Imaginary characters, humanized animals, stars on fantastic towns are the imagines of a quest that is both human and artistic, which is the achievement of an extremely personal style, that is led by curiosity, inner richness, willingness to stake oneself.

Patrizia Foglia