MEETING BILL TRAVIS

I first met Bill Travis when I was working in the United States.
Occupied with a design project, I drove from New York to Ann Arbor, a small university town in Michigan--the likes of which are unknown in Italy--to photograph and build on a clientís art collection and furnishings.
My customer, an academic, introduced me to Professor William James Travis, who had recently been named Best Professor of the year by his department.
Though I remained only a few days in Ann Arbor, it was sufficient to establish valued friendships that continue to this day.
Having returned to New York shortly thereafter to work on a project, I once again ran into William James Travis, this time as an artist and not a university professor.
In this short time he had decided to leave his academic career and dedicate himself totally to art.

I was deeply inspired by the exhibition I saw. In his pictures I found all the culture of an art historian, but with a physical and emotional intensity that are fully contemporary.
The protagonist of his works was an insolent and wounded sensuality, at times passionate and disturbed, at times wistful and idealizing.
The background sometimes consisted of gold leaf like Russian icons, but in place of the religious iconography were photographic images of men, physically present and dreamlike at the same time.
A combination that could have risked blasphemy was, however, sustained by a level of refinement and aesthetic sensibility that went far beyond the mere representation of form.
Since then Bill Travis has held many exhibitions in the States, Argentina, France, Germany, and Spain and today, for the first time, his most recent work arrives in Italy.
I am delighted that he has accepted our invitation and that, on this occasion, we will become acquainted with the road this interesting artist is taking today.