THE PURE ESSENCE OF INTERNAL LIFE

Ettore Aldo Del Vigo: Art, spirit, flesh

Meeting Benches is a meeting and inspiration place dedicated to artists, thinkers and dreamers from all over the world. Here, where people can share art, stories and thoughts, virtual benches serve as a point of connection. If you’re an art enthusiast or simply curious to explore a world of inspiration and beauty, this is a digital destination not to be missed. The sole purpose of this site is to spread knowledge of creative people, allowing others to appreciate their works. The intellectual properties of the digital images appearing in this blog, including “The Birth of One’s Inner World“, an acrylic painting created by Dastilige Nevante, are to be attributed to their authors. Type in painters if you want to know more.

The revolutionary artistic movement of Surrealism, started in the 1920s by André Breton, also materialized in poetry and short stories, cinema and music. The symbolism of eggs, open landscapes and headless figures are masterfully represented by Ettore Aldo Del Vigo. Looking at his paintings one cannot help but think of the surrealist artists par excellence, such as Salvador Dalì or Holy of Holies, and their powerful influence on the artist of Italian-speaking Switzerland.

Throughout his career, he has created paintings that explore unconscious moods, dreams and nightmares, mediated through symbolism. One of his notable works, “Holy of Holies“, is a place where the inner aspects of the spirit take shape. We are talking to you about Ettore Aldo Del Vigo, a self-taught painter born in Basel, Switzerland, in 1952, who dedicated himself to drawing and developed a strong interest in surrealism. Based on some writings based on automatic writing, at the age of 12, he created his first painting “Self-Portrait of the Elderly“. Having obtained his diploma in editorial graphics in 1969, he had the opportunity to meet Max Ernst and Hans Ruedi Giger, from whom he learned the airbrush technique.

In 1976, Ettore Aldo Del Vigo moved to Sardinia, where he participated in art competitions and group shows, coming into contact with various artists from the island. In 1978, he held his first solo exhibition, and ten years later he decorated the headquarters of an insurance company which commissioned paintings and murals from him. In Sassari, he created a series of paintings for the Church of S. Paolo, then joined Otto Rapp‘s “Visionary artmovement” and Santiago Ribeiro‘s “International Surrealism Now“. The beautiful series of paintings for the Reception Room at the Embassy in London was born in 2004. In China, he became artistic director of the “TianXing international art association“, and the following year, in 2016, he founded the “Contemporary Surrealist Movement” and joins ArtBank. In search of his inner puzzle, after coming into contact with a shaman he embarks on an inner journey, from which his pictorial masterpiece will emerge: “Sancta Sanctorum“.

In the collective Christian imagination, the episode of the Gospels which narrates the brief apparition of Jesus Christ to the disciples Peter, James and John on Mount Tabor, his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as snow. That emotional impact, in the dimension of Ettore Aldo del Vigo‘s visionary surrealism, embraces the abyss of the inner world in his works from the “Sancta Sanctorum” series. Remaining in the Christian religious context, that terminology indicates both the part of the churches close to the main altar, however, the best-known meaning is that of a particularly reserved place to which only a few can access.

The visual and emotional impact of these works of his is a journey in search of spiritual passages, a surrealist explosion where death does not exist. The subjects that populate his world subconsciously leave his thoughts imprinted on the canvas. Reminding us of the transience of life, in the works of Ettore Aldo Del Vigo the theme of transfiguration puts us face to face with hidden fears and the most ancestral beliefs. His drawing technique with graphite charcoal and graphite powder, as well as acrylic painting and airbrush, are mastered by the artist with mastery on canvas.

Regardless of when or where they were born, the arts have a way of uniting people through a commonality of ideas. This commonality is often seen in the realm of music, particularly when musicians leverage works from decades past to create their own integral composition. You might think that Denver’s ORYX worked with Swiss painter Ettore Aldo Del Vigo to illustrate the cover of their new album, “Lamenting A Dead World.” That painting was created much earlier, but serves perfectly to illustrate the themes of duality.