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KUNO VITZTHUM' S "MAGICAL REALISM"Kuno Vitzthum has always been an extremely curious man, and during his youth this hunger to understand the world drove him out of the small, confining country Switzerland and deep into Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. As an accomplishedindustrial photographer by profession, the camera never left his side and thousands of photos were taken. Meanwhile, his eye for realistic detail grew restless and he picked up a paintbrush and explored the canvass. Understandably, the realism remained, but his vision of the world that we live in took on a very "magical" feeling right from his very first painting. Many years have passed since then, and his "magical realism" has developed and flourished over countless canvasses - thanks to his very singular worldview - and his insatiable curiosity and openness.The past 10 years have been eventful to say the least. He has married an Italian, lived in Bogota and Buenos Aires, and traveled throughout South America before finally settling with his wife and having a daughter in Calabria. His pictorial expression is simple, clear and minute. The element that characterizes his painting is the cross between what is real and the fantastic. This carries the spectator into a world where time does not exist, where human beings no longer (or do not yet) live, where only the petrified testimonies of their existence survive. The fantastic cohabits with situations of crude realism. He explores the limits of reality and leads us toterritories "above and beyond" the world that we live in. His paintings have an "out of time" quality -where nature's eternity contrasts strongly with man's ephemeral character.One senses that man is in continuous conflict with Mother Earth - that it is a love-hate relationship for him - driving him to revere her, but to also abuse her. Kuno Vitzthum has developed his own technique of painting: he premixes primary oil colors to obtain a vast amount of gradations, and then uses extremely fine brushes to stroke over and over again, as in a meditation. To complete the picture, a glazing is applied to work out subtle shadow and transparency effects. His nature is one that we all want: whole, clean and benevolent.Throughout civilization, mankind has always bestowed magical meanings upon nature. He has alwaysmade it responsible for his destiny, whether bad or good. He has always looked to it for the solution tohis own problems. Kuno Vitzthum has transported this magic to the canvass. With his bold, sensuouscolors, and his acute understanding of human nature, he makes us all live his magical realism.