We meet Dr. Gianpiero Actis, an ophthalmologist from Turin, who for years has combined his medical profession with his passion for painting, both as a user and as an artist.
Limuni
"Pumadoru! Nespuli! Limuni!"
abbannìa l'omu strati
while he mingles between old and new shelves
his cart full of every good.
Di lu pizzu di Erici umitusu,
Veneri bidduna s'arrusbìgghia
and fanned out, for tourists' sake,
li minni soi divini, sempiterni.
But nun parra.
That the times of the gods
si ni jeru, by now
cu lu sciloccu.
E ntantu ssi frutti tunni e gialli
Who are sprouting up and nuddu cogghi
purriti tummulìanu a lii pedi,
a carteddi, pi nzuccarari l'acqua.
Nuddu chi piu l'ascippa di li rammi.
Nuddu chi piu, frischi nna l'arvuli,
affucia a ssi capicchi duro e duci
who wait for nothing more than ... a vasuni.
Credit: The poem 'LIMUNI' by Stanley H. Barkan (translated into Sicilian by Marco Scalabrino) was published in 'Raisins with almonds - Passuli cu mennuli' by Legas Publishing New York/Ontario - Canada in 2013
In a few lines, could you draw for us a small 'portrait' of Gianpiero Actis as a doctor and as an artist?
I was hired as an assistant at the Ophthalmic Hospital of Turin in 1972 and qualified as an ophthalmologist in 1973. After several stages abroad (Finland and Great Britain) where I further specialised in Plastic ophthalmology, I founded the ESOPRS in 1982 and the SICOP in 1999. Honorary President of the AILARPOI am the author of numerous scientific publications. Passionate about Art, ever since classical high school, thanks to the teachings of Prof. Riccardo Chicco, History of Art teacher and well-known painter, I started painting as a hobby. I have devoted myself to painting continuously since the 1980s, producing works with various techniques (oil, acrylic, collage) and have been invited to exhibit in numerous exhibitions in Italy and abroad.
Would you like to explain the significance of the link between your work and the poetry of Aeronwy Thomas and the birth of the 'Image & Poetry' literary art movement?
I met Aeronwy Thomas, daughter of the poet Dylan Thomasin 2006 during her visit to Turin. A refined writer and art lover, she immediately showed interest in my artistic production and, from that meeting, the idea of founding an artistic-literary Movement that would propose images linked to poetic productions was born. We decided to write a Manifesto with the principles of the Movement and a year later, in 2007, the Image & Poetry Movement was presented at the Alfa Theatre in Turin. Since then, through the web, the movement has spread all over the world with hundreds of adhesions of artists and poets belonging to different races, cultures, religions, but all united by the same passion for art and creative writing. Many of my paintings from 2006-2009 were inspired by Aeronwy Thomas's poems and, in turn, she composed poems inspired by my paintings.
How does your homage to 'Eyes in Art', as part of the exhibition 'Artist's Glances - Only for Your Eyes', fit into this context?
Land of Magic
Gliding through a land of magic
we tread foreign paths
of an unknown world
the eyes of Magritte
floating in the clouds
the empty and glauche orbits
of Modi
dreamy and tired Marilyn's eyes
are astonished looks around us.
Stop and listen
their silent message
we sink into a spiral of colours
and we are transported
slowly
in a strange
swirling
dance.
Lidia Chiarelli
(2014)
In 2014, I decided to combine my professional and artistic skills in an exhibition that would pay homage to the "Eyes in Art' of the 20th and 21st centuries: with three of the great artists (Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Carolyn Mary Kleefeld in the United States and Ugo Nespolo in Italy) I came into personal contact and had a fruitful exchange of views on the meaning of Contemporary Art and modern painting techniques. At Promotrice delle Belle Arti di Torinofrom December 2014 to January 2015, I presented sixteen 'Artist's Glances' in a dreamlike-surreal journey, complemented, in keeping with our Movement, by poems by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Aeronwy Thomas and Lidia Chiarelli. Completing the exhibition in the hall was the installation "Only for Your Eyes your eyes'. made by my wife, Lidia Chiarelli, which collected numerous artistic works inspired by 'eyes' and created by artists of different nationalities.
Artistic plans for the future, short and long term?
My family is a creative family: I paint, my wife writes poetry and my son Alessandro (also an ophthalmologist) does photography. We will undoubtedly continue our work on the web, which allows us to collaborate remotely with artists, photographers and writers from all over the world, but we are also planning an exhibition that combines the specific skills of all three, again in accordance with the principles of our Movement.
Link:
http://gianpieroactis.jimdo.com/
http://immaginepoesia.jimdo.com/
A GUILD
You have to imagine
to climb the spire
and to look down
the whole city
alive with colour
buildings, parks
and a dot - me
looking up
a winter sun
illuminating
a cold blue sky
from the top
you can imagine
to nod
not seen by me over there
busy with family and friends
a patch of hot
red and brown colours
just imagine being up there
to sweep with the gaze
more widely
from a spire.
Aeronwy Thomas
Turin, 2006
Translation: Lidia Chiarelli
JANPIERO ACTIS
Dr. Gianpiero Actis, an ophthalmologist from Turin, has for years combined his medical profession with his passion for painting, both as a user and as an artist. During his long career at the Ophthalmic Hospital in Turin, he specialised in Reconstructive Ophthalmoplasty and was one of the founding members of the "European Society Of Ophthalmic Plastic And
An Evening Sky
It was sweet
the scent of those evenings
when
our steps invented long routes
in summer gardens
when
slowly the street lamps were lit
and competing with the moon and stars
formed parabolas of light
on the opaque stones of the paths.
Life
then just started
seemed to unravel
just for us
a sky of unreal colours.
Countless images
(splinters of distant memories)
which
today
compose and shatter
in the tired kaleidoscope
of the mind.
Lidia Chiarelli
(Guido Gozzano's Il Meleto Prize, 2012)
(Poem in memory of my father Guido Chiarelli, creator of the lighting installations in Turin 1956-1968)
Reconstructive Surgery'. in 1982.
In 1985 he published the Practical Manual of Plastic and Reconstructive Ophthalmology (Minerva Medica Editions), with numerous scientific drawings by him.
He started painting continuously in the 1980s, but his encounter with the English writer Aeronwy Thomas, daughter of the great Dylan Thomasin 2006, he gave a turning point to his artistic activity: in fact, this meeting gave rise to the idea of founding an Artistic-Literary Movement where the written word could find its completion in the image.
In 2007 the Movement Image & Poetry was officially presented in Turin and has been continuously evolving through the web ever since.
The paintings of Gianpiero Actis are now in important public and private collections in Italy and abroad.
In 2014 at Promotrice delle Belle Arti di Torinothe solo exhibition "Artist's Glances once again established the close link between Actis' two main interests: ophthalmology and art.
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Dr. Carmelo Chines
Direttore responsabile
English 
Italian