We popped in at the Crypt Gallery today, drawn by the poster outside, and were stunned by the atmosphere of the place and the art on show. The art and venue complement each other perfectly, they are ancient and magical, we never saw something like that in London before - enchanting!
Name: Elena Forti
Location: WC2 3PS
Sardinian artist Virgilio Cotza in a unique UK exhibition. Situated on a path that links ancient history to the present, his artwork explores the relationship between the two. Virgilio’s art reveals how the millenary roots of Sardinian culture feed the present, bringing us echoes of primordial instincts and needs still present in contemporary society.
Some of his works focus on symbolic figures, often warriors, travellers or shamans: all visualisations of human inclinations and needs which in turn lead individuals’ life. His technique exposes an intimate relation with nature, earth and primary elements and the result for the viewer is that of a strong sensorial engagement.
Born in Cagliari (Italy) in 1955, Virgilio Cotza is a self-taught painter and sculpture, capable of distilling in his pieces the strength, determination and pride for which Sardinians gained themselves a name.
After an initial period painting on sackcloth, he followed his brother Alberto in sculpting and bronze casting, gaining commissions for the new Basilica di St Margherita (Pula, Sardinia). He's been the subject of a TV documentary on contemporary 'anartists', has taken part in several sculpture symposiums and now focuses on the relationship between society and identity.
The subjects of his pieces and the techniques employed draw much from the millenary culture of the tribes who inhabited the island since the Neolithic age. The remains of the Nuragic civilization are still prominent, scattered around the Sardinian countryside: huge megalithic complexes of round fortresses and burial chambers, in place since the Bronze Age. The indigenous populations were skilled metal workers, able to produce alloys and forge weapons as well as
cast votive bronzes of boats and warriors. Their strong link to the sea gives value to the hypotheses that they were amongst the tribes of Sherdan pirates who attacked Egypt and inflicted serious losses on Mycenean and Hittite sites.
Ferocity is not, however, one of the key attributes of the Sardinian people. If there is aggressiveness, it is in a latent form, a sort of granitic resistance to change and an inflexible code of conduct that bounds the individual to his group. A solemn sense of identity that transpires from Virgilio's sculpted characters: suspended on an abstract background they seem to stare through us, untouched by time and oblivious of space. Yet their gravity is reassuring and strangely hypnotic, and stays with you long after leaving the Crypt.