Two recent artistic events have brought the figure and works of Fiorella Iori, an artist with an excellent cultural background, back into the limelight.
The first was an anthological exhibition of over forty-five works the Municipality of Cecina organized for her in Piazza Carducci, a representative spot in the town, in April. On the other hand this artist from Cecina already boasted an artist in her distinguished family, on her father’s side, Ivan Iori.
This meant reviving ancient memories and comparing them with a new discovery of the origins for those, who like the painter, live in Milan, the junction of art and culture and the very place where she teaches in the famous Liceo Artistico Statale Umberto Boccioni.

Her recent exhibition was in some way awarded a prize at the second artistic event when in June 2003 the artist was involved in awarding the 15th Premio delle Arti - Premio della Cultura per la Grafica [The Arts Award – Culture Award for Graphics] in the Milan State Archives. Now, Fiorella Iori’s recent works have focused on new poetics, in other words on “let us step into Leonardo’s shoes”, keeping in mind that draperies already greatly interested the genius from Vinci and that beautiful “studies on draperies” can be admired in the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Ms. Iori was previously touched by poetics of the body or, better, her paintings explored certain parts and discovered them in a sort of pre-Raphaelite game. Instead today her poetics focus on draperies, which have a famous precedent precisely in Leonardo. Vasari himself described how Leonardo painted them after making “clay models of figures… which he dressed with loose rags soiled with earth; and then he patiently portrayed them”.
We remain speechless before Leonardo’s patience just as Fiorella Iori’s beautiful paintings leave us speechless. She scrutinizes them, traces their outline, immortalizes them and colours them with a variety of shades that range from white to red and lilac to azure. What is most surprising is that these rags have themselves become the body of the painting and their disintegration seems supported by a suit of armour that moulds their shape, indentations and many positions. Ms. Iori is perfectly aware of what painting means. She knows that one must also look back into the past to find new inspiration and stimulating opportunities, but especially today, after the recent favourable opinion of the most expert and refined critics, she is experiencing poetics charged with great poetry, great perfection and surprising wonder.
Translated by interpres sas