Nicola De Maria

NIicola De Maria

(Foglianise-Benevento, 1954)

Nicola De Maria’s works are a poetic interpretation of the artist’s inner universe. With an artistic language that refers back to the innocence of origin, De Maria makes visible the harmony, the hidden “music” that connects the various aspects of creation, from the smallest of flowers, to the sea, the sky, the moon. The artist prefers to invent directly on site, reconnecting with the great tradition of fresco. He creates environments within which ceilings and walls are animated by a vital impetus and the paintings become like windows, capable of revealing further symphonies.

In the late 1970s he was one of the initiators of the Transavanguardia movement, with its ability to dialogue with the past and at the same time disrupting pictorial conventions.

In Five or Six Lances Broken on Behalf of Courage and Virtue, 1982-1985, De Maria uses the colors blue, red, green and yellow to bring to life an immersive environment in which baroque architecture is freed from its earthy monumentality. The artist transforms the room into a place dedicated to hope and peace, evoking a spiritual dimension, which transcends from the history of the building, the Castle conceived as an expression of a worldly power.

The environment was originally presented at the Castello di Rivoli on December 18, 1985, one year after the Museum’s opening, and is currently on view after a targeted restoration work.