I remember you having several exhibitions in Malta: I remember coming to your first one, held in 1992 at the National Museum of Fine Arts which was then in South street. There were others but then you seem to have disappeared. And now you are back again with another exhibition with the intriguing title I Colori del Anima: an exhibition of artworks and artistic fashion accessories, to open at The Seaside Gallery in Senglea. Your association with Malta has been a long and fruitful one. Could you tell us how it came about?
It was in1991 when I arrived in Malta as a tourist and when I had the pleasure and luck to meet Father Marius Zerafa, then director of museums in Malta. When he discovered my art he wanted to help me, thus opening the way in Malta for me as an artist. This happened in 1992 with an important exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Valetta. There I met people like the then president of Malta, Minister of Justice Prof. Guido de Marco, the Italian Ambassador Dr Marino Fleri, and many others. I was already in love with Malta. I immediately felt an affinity to this island and its people who were welcoming, available, still appreciate and love me. And from there was born my great love for the land of the knights.
In 1993 I returned to Malta with my second exhibition, which first opened at the residence of the Italian Ambassador and immediately afterwards in the hall of the Italian Cultural Institute in Valletta then directed by Prof. Giuseppe Xausa and the introduction was done by Father Marius Zerafa. It was my second success in Malta.
During this exhibition, I was introduced to the art critic E.V. Borg who was fascinated by my artworks and so began to write about me and my art which led to my becoming increasingly known in Malta.
Until 2001 I used to come to Malta periodically. In 1996 I was invited to teach art for two weeks at Targa Gap school in Mosta, then directed by Joe Grima, a pillar of the school. With Mr Grima I had more than one collaboration during his career and while he was school principal.
In 2001 another successful exhibition at St James Cavalier in Valletta, under the distinguished patronage of Prof. Guido de Marco, then president of Malta.
In 2005 another exhibition, E Cristo si è Fermato a Malta an exhibition dedicated entirely to Easter which was the idea of Joe Grima who had by then moved to the Santa Venera School.
In those years I was living in Malta and having other exhibitions while holding several part-time art courses at the MCAST, the Russian Boarding School at Marsascala while also lecturing at the University of Malta.
Why did you leave Malta?
I left Malta in 2011 when my mother needed a delicate cardiac operation. It was a choice. I wanted to show her my love and respect even if I put my career at risk. Because I am not married I was able to be close to her, as I had also been before to my father.
Before Covid I was planning an exhibition in Malta, but the pandemic and the death of my mother which followed forced me to stop my work plans.
This year I feel ready and strong enough to relaunch my artistic plans and I decided to "herald my comeback" to all Malta presenting an unusual exhibition which is worth visiting. The exhibition I Colori dell'Anima - The Colours of the Soul is curated by Marika Azzopardi and to be launched at the Art by The Seaside Gallery in Senglea on the 16th May at 7 pm and will be inaugurated by E.V Borg. The exhibition will remain open till the 9th June 2024. All details can be found on the Facebook page of the Gallery.
What have you been doing in all those years away?
Between 2013 and 2014, I obtained a fixed-term teaching position at CAFA, China Central Academy of Fine Arts of Beijing where I gave my modest contribution in the drawing and painting section, proposing interesting projects, dedicated to "Barocco Siciliano", to Malta and many other subjects. This great experience has made me a more complete artist, with a better vision of the world, putting me in touch with a completely different culture to ours.
During my stay in China, I also worked in my studio, for days and days wanting to create something of my own in the world of fashion. So as soon as I returned to Italy from China, I began to paint the first bags for women, immediately starting to conquer the public and retailers who were interested in the novelty. Yes, Montanucci's colourful houses had landed on a fashion accessory, the bag. From that moment I started a new artistic fashion line with the same name as my paintings: I Colori dell'Anima thus I also became a fashion artist.
Could you tell us something about your latest exhibition?
The exhibition I am about to present to the local public is a voyage acroff the colourful world which helps us to dream and fantasise. Colour gives us a feeling of wellbeing, that wellbeing which each one of us wants to always feel. When, in front of us we have harmonious and balanced forms, luminous and clean colours, every soul becomes ready to open up and welcome life and even want to sing "I colori dell'anima."
What about the fashion accessories? What exactly are they?
Fashion accessories are a collection of bags, hats, foulards, stoles, sunglasses, jewellery, wallets, women's clothes, shoes, winter gloves, and women's belts; men's belts and hats, ties, bowties, and many others which I will not be able to bring to Malta for logistical reasons. Other accessories areffor the home such as vases, lamps, sofa cushions.
I hope these too will make people happy.
I wish to dedicate this exhibition in Malta to my beloved father Battista and my mother who knew how to cultivate the artist in me.