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Valentino BellucciItalian artist Valentino Bellucci’s paintings cover a wide range of territory — from views of walled cities, to secludedalleyways, to landscapes and portraits. Yet, holding together this rich variety, the strong influence of Cubism can be seenin all of the subjects he depicts.The Cubist influence leads him to create images that simultaneously exist on two planes. His paintings are at once recognizablepictures of the real world and experimental transformations of that world into sharply rendered geometrical shapes. Faces,skies or buildings can become fragmented into cubes or triangles, turning even the most peaceful scenes into dynamiccompositions. A sky will be broken up into a series of cubes that look as if they are tumbling over one another, or a face willseem to be flying apart. But even as the fragmentation in these works gives them an abstract spin, Bellucci’s ability to renderprecise details, whether it’s an arched eyebrow or the leaves in a grove of trees, ensures that these scenes appear true tolife. He says that his goal is to see the reality that surrounds him with new eyes, and his paintings nicely balance that senseof new vision with a palpable sense of physical reality. He keeps the images firmly grounded, while infusing them with theabstract energy of the other world they inhabit.Working in oil on canvas, Bellucci effectively employs a vivid palette that runs from glowing yellows and oranges to shimmeringblues to greens and browns. He uses color to punctuate his images, to give them a strong rhythm and flow. The viewer’seye is constantly active, moving from bright shades to subtle ones, or from light to darkness. His expert handling of light andshadow heightens the unusual feel of these paintings, giving both the underlying scenery and the shapes used to transform ita three-dimensional feel. And Bellucci, whose varied past includes working as a ship captain, has more than artistic goals inmind for these images. He wants to use proceeds from his paintings to help raise money for research into childhood cancer.www.valentinobellucci.orgwww.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Valentino_Bellucci.aspxBadalucco (IM) - Tempesta Oil on Canvas 16” x 31.5”Valentino in his StudioCeriana (IM) Oil on Canvas 9.5” x 15”55 ARTisSpectrum