Monday, March 31, 1997
ART:
Del Drago brews controversy with fourth primary color theoryBy
Kathleen Rhames
Daily Bruin Contributor
Renowned Italian contemporary painter Francesco Del Drago isn’t
afraid to stir up a little controversy.
In fact, it’s what he does best. Famous for ending his
friendship with Picasso after the two argued over the use of color,
Del Drago has challenged the techniques of contemporary painting
with his unorthodox theories and upset centuries of artistic
tradition.
Yet his critics call his work "the most advanced in contemporary
painting," and have recognized him as one of the best painters of
his time.
On display now at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Del Drago
challenges Los Angeles critics to view his exhibit, "Gallery
Italia," and test his theories for themselves.
"In America, the critics that have seen my work or heard my
theory feel that they are way ahead of me," Del Drago says. "In
reality, they don’t want to admit that they are actually behind in
their techniques and that they are hesitant to accept my
research."
His discovery of a fourth primary color in 1985 forever enlarged
the realm in which painters could work with color.
Calling it a "cold red," Del Drago has since painted all of his
works using four principle colors instead of the traditional three.
It has given his art a unique sense of visual distinction that sets
his work apart from that of his peers. Del Drago himself describes
the result as an "optical orgasm."
"With my art, I take structure and form and make it excite the
erogenous zones," Del Drago says. "Beneath the colors is the
structure of the painting but yet there’s a synthesis from one
sense to the next. It becomes a transformation from touch to a
feeling of sensuality."
Encountering one of Del Drago’s paintings is proof of this.
Walking into a room surrounded by his artwork is like stepping into
a prism of reflecting lights and colors. And yet, underneath, it
remains structured and carefully designed.
One painting, titled "The Night," features shapes of male and
female bodies painted in blues, greens and cold red. The linear,
evenly spaced forms are highlighted by a circle of intermixing
colors resembling a pool of water reflecting light onto a night
sea.
Italian Consul General Enzo Coniglio describes Del Drago’s work
as "able to touch the deepest aesthetic sentiment of the human
being which can only be reached through nonverbal
communication."
Yet, while his theory of color has been accepted and promoted in
Russia and China, critics in Europe and the United States still
question it. Del Drago hopes that displaying his exhibit in Los
Angeles will open minds to his research and broaden acceptance
toward the use of the cold red.
Three years ago, Del Drago was honored in a film by the Italian
National Television for his theory regarding cold red and how it
could improve the quality of color in photography, cinema and
television. The film, which featured the actor Marcello
Mastroianni, gave Del Drago the media attention he needed for the
project to become an enormous success.
Del Drago hopes his theory of color can be beneficial to
American cinema as well. Since the premiere of his exhibit in Los
Angeles, he has been invited back to the United States to give a
lecture at UCLA’s School of Film and Television regarding his use
of color and the application of cold red in film and
television.
"The problem with cinema in Los Angeles is that they don’t
understand how to work with color," Del Drago says. "They don’t
know about the cold red as a fourth principle color and
consequently, the color in movies is really very ugly and not as
sharp as it could be."
The artist’s fascination with color dates back to a childhood
passion, for which he spent time studying great painters like
Monet, Tiziano, Renoir and Matisse. For 20 years he studied their
paintings, perfecting their styles and techniques, all the time
improving on them and creating a style of his own.
Determined to combine form with color abstraction and
figuration, the young Del Drago strove to join together opposing
techniques that had segregated painters of his generation for
decades.
Although he has attained great success as a painter, Del Drago
is adamant to explain that his career has also helped his
research.
"Everything that I’ve done has been a type of research on
color," the artist says. "It is a method that is both aesthetic and
scientific but I’ve done it to advance the paintings I create
rather than myself as an artist. It’s not so much about me as about
the art itself."
Del Drago’s research has revolutionized the traditional theory
of color for those who will accept it.
The use of cold red has become his signature trademark in all of
his paintings and has added a sense of visual depth to his
technique.
But when asked to explain how he came to all of these
groundbreaking conclusions, Del Drago simply shrugs his shoulders
nonchalantly and responds, "Through years of hard work."
ART: Del Drago’s work will be on display at Istituto Italiano di
Cultura’s Gallery Italia through April 18. The institute is located
at 1023 Hilgard Ave.