Geroglifico 1977

Curator: This is Antonio Corpora’s “Geroglifico,” created in 1977 using a mixed-media technique that beautifully combines acrylic paint. The title intrigues me, doesn’t it? Editor: Absolutely. It’s a wash of blues and greens, and then, wham, this explosion of reds and oranges smack-dab in the center, almost like a memory surfacing. The energy is almost chaotic, contained just barely. I get the “hieroglyphic” nod from it too - there are these glyph-like marks. Is that intentional, I wonder? Curator: That’s perceptive. While not literal hieroglyphs, Corpora often engaged with visual languages—searching for universal symbols. Think about the post-war era and the push for new forms of communication. The title might propose the act of painting itself as a symbolic form of language. Editor: Interesting! It's a pretty contained language then, isn’t it? The colour choices make me think of slightly murky water, but the slashes of reds… something violent perhaps? Was Corpora known for particular colour associations or themes? Curator: Corpora was a master of colour. He often used vibrant hues to evoke emotion and a sense of place, particularly drawing from his Italian background. However, "violence" might be too strong. Think about it more like passionate energy finding release, typical for that strain of abstract expressionism. In a way it is Corpora painting freedom. The post-war landscape witnessed an entire generation of artists struggling to find appropriate form and language for that feeling. Editor: I get that, yes – energy makes more sense! A contained sort of exuberance. And if you view it from the cultural angle, I'm picturing that late 70's feeling of pushing past all prior historical trauma to embrace new ways. Curator: Precisely. Corpora straddled tradition and the avant-garde, suggesting, perhaps, that every daub of paint holds the potential to become a symbol, waiting for us to decipher its meaning in the present moment. Editor: Which makes looking at art, and really listening to it, a deeply collaborative project. You see yourself in the artist's intention, maybe you understand each other a bit better, or at all. Fascinating. Curator: Absolutely, making us active participants in his story. "Geroglifico" asks us to unlock its visual codes, reminding us that every generation creates its own visual vocabulary, ready to be reread by another one.