Chianciano Art Museum
Critical Analysis Artist: Anne Lise Kaaby Aas Art Critic: Karen Lappon
ICAC
International Confederation of Art Critics
Critical Analysis Artist: Anne Lise Kaaby Aas Art Critic: Karen Lappon
The Museum The Museum of Art of Chianciano hosts a series of collections ranging from Neolithic and Asiatic to Contemporary art. There are approximately a thousand works on display. Visitors are able to view paintings and sculptures by artists such as Tom Nash, Salvador Dali, Sir Henry Moore, Frances Turner, Mario Schifano, Damien Hirst, Brian Willsher and Albert Louden, drawings by the likes of Magritte, Guttuso and Munch; historical works from Royal Collections and original etchings by masters such as Dürer and Rembrandt. The museum is known for organising annual international events, including the Chianciano International Art Award and the Biennale of Chianciano.
Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) “Joachim and the Angel” Original woodcut, circa 1504
Sir Henry Moore (1898-1986) “Head” Bronze Sculpture
ICAC
International Confederation of Art Critics
The Critic
Karen Lappon, born in Santander, Spain, is an Italian art critic and essay writer that operates in London, UK. Although an expert on the Italian Renaissance period, Lappon is also great admirer of contemporary art. Karen studied at the “I Liceo Artistico in Via Ripetta” and at the “La Sapienza” University in Rome. A book of great interest curated by Karen is the “2nd Millenium”, the publication of an important exhibition at the Lord Leighton Museum, in which the talent and art of the prominent painter, Frances Turner - selected 5 times in a row for the BP Award at the National Portrait Gallery in London - is highlighted. This artist has been spotted and appreciated by another great critic, Normal Searle, that wrote an article in the Evening Standard on one of Frances’ paintings. “Vita e Opere di Antonio Sbrana” is a publication in which Lappon ties the activity of Sbrana and his influences on the “Macchiaioli” of the 19th century, like Natali and Fattori. A publication that illustrates the continuity of this movement and how it is still present in Italy today. Besides being a consultant for the Chianciano Museum of Art, Karen Lappon is part of the Board that selects artists for the Biennale, a difficult task that she has undertaken since 2009, along with other curators, to choose 100 artists out of 2000 applicants that will be part of the Chianciano Biennale. Karen is part of the jury of the London Biennale where 120 artists, selected from 40 different countries participate, and has been chosen by the organisers to accompany the Mayor of Kensington and Chelsea during the opening of the biennale.
“Venus Rising” acrylic on canvas by Anne Lise Kaaby Aas
The Artist
Anne Lise Kaaby was born in Porsanger in Northern Norway. Anne Lise has been living in different countries: Mauritius, USA, Dubai and is currently living in Cyprus. She participated in art classes at the Art League of Houston and the University of Houston with different instructors. While living in Houston Anne Lise was a student of award winning artist Salli Babitt. Anne Lise has participated in many solo and group exhibitions in Italy, China, Spain, USA, Germany, UK, Austria, Denmark and Norway. She has done commission work for private collectors and corporations. Anne Lise is an award winning contemporary artist. “Art has been a visual language for me since childhood. It is a need within me that drives me to paint. It gives me a great satisfaction to see beautiful colors and lines appear in front of my eyes. Painting is like music to me and my brush takes me on a rhythmical journey to a finished work of art. I work in layers of paint and collage creating a surface that is pleasing and brings the viewer´s attention to the several levels of this process. I often start my work drawing a still life of everyday objects or shapes from nature. Through my work I wish to reveal qualities of musical or singing color to inspire the viewer’s sense of mystery spiritual and emotional feeling.”
“Awkward Silence” mixed media on canvas by Anne Lise Kaaby Aas
The Critique
Anne Lise Kaaby is an extraordinary Norwegian painter whose style is difficult to describe in the common sense of the term, denoting her ability to paint and express herself through the masterful use of the ultimate visual language. Her work ranges from traditional landscapes to figurative painting; from abstract expressionism to a unique fusion of cubism and surrealism. Her compositions are permeated with magical, dream-like, noetic elements typical of the Surrealist movement but with the spontaneity of Abstract Expressionism reminding us of Arshile Gorky, Paul Klee and Kirchner. Anne uses strong, vibrant colours to highlight intensity and depth. The graphic elements of line, colour planes and space are set in motion by an energy that comes directly from the artist’s mind and envelops the viewer in a warm embrace, an emotional symphony of analogous and complementary colours. The adaptation of the figures is divided into forms by colour, and held within the images, displaying a multicoloured array of geometrical forms that together with her loose, rough brushstrokes define the subjects in a harmonious and rhythmical movement of levels and planes that enthrall and capture the viewers’ sphere of emotions, and awakens his attention to details we gradually discover more of. Unlike traditional perspective which creates the effect of looking through a window into a three-dimensional world, Anne’s compositions draw attention to the surface of the canvas and to the construction and deconstruction of the form in a way that reminds us of Braque, Gris and Cubism. Anne Lise Kaaby is a complete and talented artist. A worthy representative of today’s contemporary art scene.
Karen Lappon International Confederation of Art Critics
“Into the light” mixed media on paper by Anne Lise Kaaby Aas
“Solo Performance” acrylic on canvas by Anne Lise Kaaby Aas
International Confederation of Art Critics www.international-confederation-art-critics.org