Antonio La Rosa, brilliant and eclectic artist, a gentleman from another time.

We’ll also put the spotlight on the brilliant and eclectic artist, Antonio La Rosa. We’ll make an elegant portrait of him, soft but coloured, characterized by the warm and traditional Sardinian colours and tastes… and the title will be: “Antonio, a gentleman from another time”.

Our friend Antonio, opened the shutter of his workshop for us and, at that moment, the chaos of the real world disappeared, and we entered a dimension formed of “unstable equilibrium”.

The artist, born in Calasetta, with humble words, tells us about his life… his eyes shining, remembering himself as a young boy and as a teenager. He’s touched when he remembers that day when, after telling his mum Rita, he told his dad Pasquale his important decision, the one which would change his life forever: “Dad, I’m leaving!”

The silence in the room at that precise moment is still tangible, his dad didn’t talk, didn’t say a word… His son renounced working in his small family business to follow a dream, to become an actor, like the ones you see on TV, like the ones you can’t see in Sardinia. Antonio’s desire to leave was strong, but it teetered when he met his dad’s glare, though he decided to leave anyway.

At the age of 24 Antonio arrived in the capital city and studied drama in a private school for about three years. In a short time he took his first steps on stage and in 2001 he performed his first major role; but he didn’t stop studying: courses and master classes filled his days; he also travelled around until he arrived in Los Angeles. When he came back from the USA, he formed the theatre company “I gitani dell’Anima” (the gypsy of the soul), for which he worked as a director and took the lead roles. They put on a comedy: “Stasera a casa di amici” (this evening at some friends’), by the De Filippo brothers. Since then he’s toured around Italy with different productions, amongst the last ones “Natale in Cantina” (Christmas in the basement) and “Il tempo di una lavatrice” (The Timing of a Washing Machine)….

But, how was the actor born? To tell us about it, Antonio goes back in time. He tells us about when he was in the first year of high school and played the role of Jesus in “Jesus Christ Superstar”, a real success that he remembers, smiling. He has the same smile when he thinks about his drawings at the preparatory school…he always drew a lion…maybe at that time the painter had already been born.

At the beginning of his artistic career, Antonio needed a job, and he worked as a bank consultant, which he bluffed his way through.

What does Antonio want to do when he’s older? – “I don’t want to become old,” he replies.

Today he’s 38 years old and he wants to be a man of no age, but the time passes, life goes by and the artist inside knows it, so he seizes the hour. That which goes around in his head understands that in life everything is unstable and it’s almost a necessity to lose equilibrium, to instantly find a new one, and he finds it, loses it, and finds it again. This makes his art a synergy of unstable equilibrium.

But, to better understand Antonio’s thousand facets, we need to let ourselves be guided around his workshop, where our eyes  feast upon beautiful things: paintings with warm colours resting on tripods, canvases which grip your attention and animate the walls; a line of four chairs from the oratory where as a small boy he went to watch films; tins of paint; an old trunk with canvases and pieces of glass; costumes resting on a tiger-striped sofa, and then paint brushes, palette knives and rags which give life to a painting of him and his dad at sunset, or to a picture of a modern family… distant but united.

Antonio considers himself a man of the world… he left Sardinia to find something more, but in his dreams he had already climbed into a balloon he had painted… probably after having raised his top hat, just as represented in another of his pictures.

For several years, Antonio has experimented with sculptures in iron representing the unstable equilibrium of life, and that push in our lives, sweet but decisive, like the one his mother Rita gave him on the swing under an incredibly high fig tree.

And so, via swings and balloons, Antonio, we wish that you go on flying high with your dreams, and through sculptures and paintings trace your brilliant author’s lines, maybe like the ones you’ll take into the theatre with the new show “Lemuri”; or, the ones at EXMA, the Contemporary Art Museum, starting from 23^rd April till 24^th May, in Cagliari, where you’ll guide us via your workshops. We’ll be catapulted into the magic world of art where everything is possible and nothing is out of reach… just like that dream which had astonished your dad Pasquale so much, and who is now so proud of his Antonio.

Nadia Pische

traduzione in inglese di Elisabetta Basciu

Antonio La Rosa, brillante artista poliedrico, un signore d’altri tempi.

Oggi puntiamo le luci del palcoscenico sul brillante artista poliedrico Antonio La Rosa. Faremo di lui un dipinto gentile ed elegante, morbido e colorato al punto giusto, dalle tinte calde e dai sapori nostrani… ed il titolo sarà: “Antonio, un signore d’altri tempi”. Eh sì proprio così, il nostro amico Antonio ci ha aperto la serranda del suo “laboratorio” e, da quel momento, il caos del mondo reale è scomparso e siamo entrati in una dimensione fatta di “equilibri instabili”…

L’artista, a cui Calasetta ha dato i natali, con parole umili ci racconta di se… gli occhi gli brillano mentre ricorda “Antonio bambino” e poi adolescente, si commuove nel ricordare quel giorno quando, dopo averlo detto alla madre Rita… comunica al suo papà Pasquale una decisione importante, quella che cambierà per sempre la sua vita: «Papà io parto! Vado a Roma per studiare recitazione…»

Il silenzio della stanza, di quel preciso momento, è ancora tangibile, il padre non parla, non proferisce parola… Un figlio rinuncia ad entrare a far parte della piccola azienda familiare per inseguire un sogno… Diventare attore, come quelli che si vedono in tv, come quelli che non ci sono in Sardegna, la voglia di partire è forte, ma vacilla quando incontra lo sguardo del padre… e, comunque, decide di partire… A 24 anni, Antonio arriva nella capitale e per circa tre anni e mezzo studia recitazione in una scuola privata. Nel giro di poco tempo muove i primi passi sul palcoscenico e nel 2001 fa la sua prima entrata in scena… non smette di studiare, corsi e master class riempiono le sue giornate, si sposta in lungo e in largo sino ad arrivare a Los Angeles. Al suo rientro dagli USA mette su “I gitani dell’anima”, una compagnia che lo vede regista protagonista in uno spettacolo dei fratelli De Filippo “Stasera a casa di amici”, gira l’Italia con varie produzioni, tra le ultime “Natale in cantina” e “Il tempo di una lavatrice”. Ma come nasce l’attore? Per raccontarcelo Antonio torna indietro nel tempo… e co-me per magia rieccolo in 1ª media quando sfonda le scene interpretando Gesù in “Jesus Chryst superstar”... un vero successo che ricorda col sorriso… lo stesso che fa quando ripensa ai suoi disegni della scuola materna… disegnava un leone… sempre un leone… forse già allora nasceva il pittore. Attore, pittore… ma serviva un lavoro e Antonio diventa consulente per una banca… in fondo si trattava solo di recitare una parte…

Ma da grande cosa vorrà fare Antonio? Diventare grande? Antonio non vuole diventare grande… oggi ha 38 anni e vuole essere “l’uomo senza età”... ma il tempo se ne va, la vita scorre, l’artista che c’è in lui lo sa… e coglie l’attimo… quel che è, girovagando dentro se stesso comprende che nella vita tutto è precario ed è quasi necessario perdere l’equilibrio per trovarne subito uno nuovo… e lui l’equilibrio lo trova, lo perde e lo ritrova ancora… e fa delle sue arti una sinergia di equilibri instabili… Ma per comprendere meglio le sue mille sfaccettature occorre lasciarsi guidare all’interno del suo laboratorio, gli occhi ed il gusto per il bello traggono subito piacere: quadri dalle tinte calde adagiati sui cavalletti; tele dai soggetti graffianti che animano le pareti; una fila di 4 sedie dell’oratorio, le stesse su cui si sedeva quando da bambino si recava a vedere un film; barattoli di colore; un vecchio baule con tele e vetri; abiti di scena poggiati su un divano tigrato e poi pennelli, spatole e stracci per dar vita ad un tramonto col padre… ad un ritratto di famiglia moderna, separata ma unita… Antonio si sente cittadino del mondo… a suo tempo lasciò la Sardegna per andare incontro a qualcosa di più… nei suoi sogni l’aveva già fatto salendo su una di quelle mongolfiere che ha dipinto su tela… magari dopo aver sollevato il cilindro in segno di saluto, proprio come rappresenta un altro suo quadro… Un artista sul palcoscenico, tra i suoi scritti, tra le tele, ma da qualche anno anche tra “morbide” sculture di ferro in equilibrio precario e instabile… quasi una metafora della vita… noi in continua ricerca di equilibrio… di una spinta… dolce ma decisa… proprio come quella che mamma Rita gli dava su quell’altalena posta sotto quell’incredibile fico alto 5 metri… E allora altalene… mongolfiere… continua a volare in alto con i tuoi sogni e tra uno “sfrido” ed un “pennello” traccia grandi linee d’autore… magari quelle che porterai a teatro col nuovo spettacolo intitolato “Lemuri”, oppure quelle che a partire dal 23 aprile al 24 maggio all’Exma, Museo d’Arte contemporanea, a Cagliari ammireremo in tua compagnia, quando attraverso i tuoi laboratori ci catapulterai nel magico mondo dell’arte dove tutto è possibile… e dove niente è irraggiungibile… proprio come quel sogno che aveva tanto stupito papà Pasquale, che adesso è fiero del suo Antonio.

Nadia Pische

traduzione in inglese di Elisabetta Basciu

We’ll also put the spotlight on the brilliant and eclectic artist, Antonio La Rosa. We’ll make an elegant portrait of him, soft but coloured, characterized by the warm and traditional Sardinian colours and tastes… and the title will be: “Antonio, a gentleman from another time”.

Our friend Antonio, opened the shutter of his workshop for us and, at that moment, the chaos of the real world disappeared, and we entered a dimension formed of “unstable equilibrium”.

The artist, born in Calasetta, with humble words, tells us about his life… his eyes shining, remembering himself as a young boy and as a teenager. He’s touched when he remembers that day when, after telling his mum Rita, he told his dad Pasquale his important decision, the one which would change his life forever: “Dad, I’m leaving!”

The silence in the room at that precise moment is still tangible, his dad didn’t talk, didn’t say a word… His son renounced working in his small family business to follow a dream, to become an actor, like the ones you see on TV, like the ones you can’t see in Sardinia. Antonio’s desire to leave was strong, but it teetered when he met his dad’s glare, though he decided to leave anyway.

At the age of 24 Antonio arrived in the capital city and studied drama in a private school for about three years. In a short time he took his first steps on stage and in 2001 he performed his first major role; but he didn’t stop studying: courses and master classes filled his days; he also travelled around until he arrived in Los Angeles. When he came back from the USA, he formed the theatre company “I gitani dell’Anima” (the gypsy of the soul), for which he worked as a director and took the lead roles. They put on a comedy: “Stasera a casa di amici” (this evening at some friends’), by the De Filippo brothers. Since then he’s toured around Italy with different productions, amongst the last ones “Natale in Cantina” (Christmas in the basement) and “Il tempo di una lavatrice” (The Timing of a Washing Machine)….

But, how was the actor born? To tell us about it, Antonio goes back in time. He tells us about when he was in the first year of high school and played the role of Jesus in “Jesus Christ Superstar”, a real success that he remembers, smiling. He has the same smile when he thinks about his drawings at the preparatory school…he always drew a lion…maybe at that time the painter had already been born.

At the beginning of his artistic career, Antonio needed a job, and he worked as a bank consultant, which he bluffed his way through.

What does Antonio want to do when he’s older? – “I don’t want to become old,” he replies.

Today he’s 38 years old and he wants to be a man of no age, but the time passes, life goes by and the artist inside knows it, so he seizes the hour. That which goes around in his head understands that in life everything is unstable and it’s almost a necessity to lose equilibrium, to instantly find a new one, and he finds it, loses it, and finds it again. This makes his art a synergy of unstable equilibrium.

But, to better understand Antonio’s thousand facets, we need to let ourselves be guided around his workshop, where our eyes  feast upon beautiful things: paintings with warm colours resting on tripods, canvases which grip your attention and animate the walls; a line of four chairs from the oratory where as a small boy he went to watch films; tins of paint; an old trunk with canvases and pieces of glass; costumes resting on a tiger-striped sofa, and then paint brushes, palette knives and rags which give life to a painting of him and his dad at sunset, or to a picture of a modern family… distant but united.

Antonio considers himself a man of the world… he left Sardinia to find something more, but in his dreams he had already climbed into a balloon he had painted… probably after having raised his top hat, just as represented in another of his pictures.

For several years, Antonio has experimented with sculptures in iron representing the unstable equilibrium of life, and that push in our lives, sweet but decisive, like the one his mother Rita gave him on the swing under an incredibly high fig tree.

And so, via swings and balloons, Antonio, we wish that you go on flying high with your dreams, and through sculptures and paintings trace your brilliant author’s lines, maybe like the ones you’ll take into the theatre with the new show “Lemuri”; or, the ones at EXMA, the Contemporary Art Museum, starting from 23^rd April till 24^th May, in Cagliari, where you’ll guide us via your workshops. We’ll be catapulted into the magic world of art where everything is possible and nothing is out of reach… just like that dream which had astonished your dad Pasquale so much, and who is now so proud of his Antonio.