Milan, 22 May. Planets, stars, black holes, the Moon and Marilyn Monroe. ‘The Moon’, Tony Dallara’s exhibition, was inaugurated this morning in the foyer of Palazzo Pirelli. About fifteen canvases, colorful and science fiction, which show the artistic talent of Tony Dallara. Mixed media works that tell the world that fascinates the artist most: space and the moon.
“I have always been attracted by the moon – says Tony Dallara -. I tried to bring that endless mystery that is space into my art, starting from the black holes that I imagined and dreamed of. The exhibition could not miss two works dedicated to Marilyn Monroe, an example of beauty and charm, whom Dallara met in New York in 1962.
Antonio Lardera, aka Tony Dallara, born in 1936, originally from Campobasso, but Milanese by adoption, won the Sanremo Festival in 1960 with ‘Romantica’ by Renato Rascel, introducing the so-called ‘scream’ into Italian pop music after years of melodies . A popular singer in the fifties and sixties thanks to great hits such as ‘Ti dirò’ or ‘Come prima’, Dallara was able to satisfy his internal need for expressiveness also through painting. “I didn’t have the money to attend the Brera Academy – Dallara recalls – but painting has always been inside me, I never asked myself the reason for this. Passions are born with a precise imprint, a sign, a color”.
His first exhibition was held immediately after his victory at the 1960 Sanremo Festival, at the Galleria Cairola, in via della Spiga in Milan. Dallara’s first solo show was introduced by a ‘sacred monster’ of Italian culture such as Dino Buzzati who wrote: “Dallara does not paint out of artistic pose, out of snobbery, to enrich the repertoire of his biographers with a quality hobby. He paints […] to chase certain fantasies of his, to find himself. And he paints with absolute freedom, without worrying about the search for a style or a personal formula. As many do, in search of originality at any cost.” Thus began his second career, that of an abstract painter, which led him to be recognized by Lucio Fontana, Roberto Crippa, Renato Guttuso and Andy Warhol.
Present at the inauguration were his wife Patrizia and the councilor for Transport and Sustainable Mobility Franco Lucente, who promoted the initiative. On the sidelines of the inauguration, the president of the regional council Federico Romani underlined that Tony Dallara’s art and music are, first of all, emotion. They are a universal language capable of addressing everyone, without distinction and they have the explosive power to connect people, to interpret our world. Tony Dallara, in his long artistic career, has been able to cross music and art with the same strength, the same passion, the same energy and, of course, the same talent.
The exhibition can be visited until Thursday 30 May at the following times: Monday to Thursday from 9.30 to 12.30 and from 14.30 to 16.30 and Friday from 9.30 to 12.30. Free admission.
