Lisa D. Wyatt 
His works, made with ancient techniques, resemble digital photographs and the subjects, represented in classic poses, are separated from a context: this and much more is the artistic world of Stefano Solimani. Painter from Marche, he has now found his homeland in Umbria, in Spoleto. Solimani painted from 1967, as he keeps emphasizing: “I prepared my first character at 14”, he says. “My mother tried her hand at painting and, following her example, I have always drawn and painted. At school, I was very good at arts subjects and I also helped my classmates. The young Stefano Solimani, although he could not attend an art school because his father did not approve, never stopped practicing and representing subjects, landscapes and objects of life. , as well as fantastic scenes. The artist explains: “Abstractionism has never attracted me; lately, I have started to include abstract and symbolic elements in my works, never forgetting the formal beauty ”. Beauty, never an end in itself but the result of research, is one of the themes most dear to Stefano Solimani. To the point of founding, in 2009, an artistic movement, Hyperesthesia: “In the twentieth century currents were born according to which anything was allowed; for example, the Transavanguardia, which wanted to express itself as if it was starting from scratch, ”says Solimani. “Hyperesthesia was born as an artistic revolution, a kind of new Renaissance which, on the one hand, opposes the excesses of these movements, and on the other hand, seeks beauty as a means of purification, of redemption. Solimani carefully selects the artists who adhere to his manifesto: “They are unique characters,” he explains.
Stefano Solimani’s works are so close to the truth (another criterion dear to the artist) that they look like photographs. Some even doubted that he only uses a brush and mentioned digital manipulations. In this regard, Solimani recounts an episode in 2012, on the occasion of an exhibition at the Civic Museum of Bevagna (Perugia): “To dispel any rumor, I set up a painting studio and painted a still life in front of the whole crowd. world, which I call silent nature. There is no longer the habit of seeing a person painting with the techniques of the past ”. Stefano Solimani’s works are made with glazes of oil paint, reproducing subjects, people and things, illuminated with electric light. The artist explains: “I don’t work with natural light, which changes quickly. I create a setting in which the characters play a role. In his Silent Natures (“Still life has a sense of decomposition, I create silent natures”, explains the artist) there are sometimes symbolic objects or animals which make the atmosphere rarefied and metaphysical. Solimani says: “These are apparently incomprehensible elements, but they hide a logic. They often concern religious themes and arouse doubt, sometimes recalling Platonic or Aristotelian concepts. Some time ago, I exhibited in a diocesan museum and, although it is directed by prelates with quite important positions, nobody noticed, at least in appearance, the hidden contents of my paintings ”. And he adds: “Maybe not everyone remembers it, but to attribute a painting to a church, it is still necessary today to follow the canons of the sixteenth century, established after the Council of Trent”.
During the period of the pandemic, Stefano Solimani painted a few works, among which “The war is over”, a painting which, according to the artist, reminds us of how man has always waged a war against evil with unequal weapons , but in the end something from above intervenes to bring peace. And, for the “Troisi Poeta Massimo” exhibition, which ended in September 2021, Solimani exhibited “How a poem ends”, a portrait of the great Neapolitan actor Massimo Troisi as he shows the sky above. of explaining the contemporary world to Leonardo Da Vinci, in one of the scenes from the film “Non ci resta che piangere”. After seeing the cancellation, due to the pandemic, of two important exhibitions in which he should have participated (scheduled for the birthdays of Raphael in 2020 and Dante in 2021), Stefano Solimani is now in contact with the future Louvre museum in Abu Dhabi. (United Arab Emirates), for the acquisition of some of his works for the permanent collection.
