The area of Venice is famous for its architecture and lavishly decorated villas particularly those with mural decoration. The school of the mural painting had great teachers, from the Renaissance with Paolo Veronese until the late Baroque of Gian Battista Tiepolo. Paulo Bellò is the continuation of this fine tradition, an artist who decorates villas and palaces in a refined and elegant style.
Paulo Bellò began his career "in the workshop" of the maestro Ennio Verenini in Bassano del Grappa and was drawn to the world of decoration that had "bewitched" him. Mural decoration is so specialized in various techniques including the difficult art of fresco, which requires great concentration, preparation, skill and speed to create a work in a very limited time,with techniques the same as those used by the great renaissance masters.
We met Paolo in his workshop in Solagna, where he does all the preliminary studies and research, in order to satisfy the most demanding customers, and where he devoted himself to his passion for figure painting.
Paolo, how did you start painting?
Around 1995, I began to get involved in serious painting. In roof and wall decoration I got to a point that I did not know what was the boundary between the decorative and artistic creativity, so I felt the need to expand my knowledge.
Figure painting was then a function of the decorative world, particularly in the mural painting of villas of the Venetian tradition, and over time has become another form of expression for me. I love to paint the human body because it allows you to depict anything: the brutality, beauty, human feelings and you can do it with different techniques.
You mentioned the Venetian villas, consider your achievements are unique and elegant?
Yes, I think each of my works is 'unique'. I do not like to repeat what I realized as a decorator and painter, and I like to create a work that gives pleasure to others. The artist should not feel himself in schemes, but he must be present his social responsibility. With his works he sends a message to the public and it is right that you ask about what he decides to represent. I always do.
I love the concept of 'shared' beauty because I think that beauty is functional to 'feel good' and should not be an end in itself: it is positivity, warmth, kindness. I become a 'mirror' for the painting and 'practice' for the decoration. I consider my achievements to definitely be elegant and I satisfy my clients by combining elegance and refinement.
What does it mean to carry out the decoration of a villa? What is your relationship with your customers?
When someone commissions a restoration or the decoration of an important house, we begin a journey that can last a couple of years. And within the home, people are very demanding although in different ways. There are three types of customers: those who know what they want, those who do not really know what they want and those who rely on the decorator.
Certainly, I spend a lot of time in their house so I have to "be there but not appear" even if I am still involved in their family life.
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