Artist Loria Orsato Gets Featured In Exhibition Dedicated To Actor Massimo Troisi

Artist Loria Orsato is one of the artists featured in an exhibition dedicated to actor Massimo Troisi and his iconic film, The Postman.

Orsato is currently in news for being part of the exhibition dedicated to Italian actor Massimo Troisi and his most notable 1994 film, Il Postino (The Postman). The film is considered one of the greatest films ever made in Italy and was nominated for two Oscars. The film is also noted for being set, and mostly shot, on the island of Procida. Now, 28 years later, the city pays respect to the legendary film.

The Postman (2020) by Loria OrsatoThe exhibition, titled “The Postman behind the scenes. The faces of Massimo Troisi”, opened on October 20 this year and will run until January 6, 2023. The exhibition consists of 49 works – each aiming to pay homage to both the actor Massimo Troisi and his character in The Postman. The exhibition was conceived by Stefano Veneruso (who is the nephew of the later actor) and financed by Regione Campania. The exhibition is part of the cultural programs organized by the island city of Procida in Italy, after it was conferred the title of Italian Capital of Culture for 2022.

Loria Orsato is one of the artists who would be bringing the legacy of Troisi alive in an artistic way. Simply titled ‘The Postman’ and finished in 2020, the painting is like a poetic homage to Massimo Troisi’s character in the film – Mario Ruoppolo. The painting, which uses the mixed technique on canvas, tries to depict how Mario touches the lives of people he meets even as he does his seemingly regular job. The painting has already been displayed at the Troisi Poeta Massimo exhibition – a 2021 exhibition dedicated to Troisi – held in Castel dell’Ovo in Naples.

About Loria OrsatoLoria Orsato was born in the Agno Valley at Recoaro Terme – a small town in the Vicenza district in Italy. She mostly remembers a happy childhood that was spent amidst the natural abode that surrounded her hometown. However, her perspective of life changed after her younger sister – who was just six months old – died. This prompted Orsato to ask questions unusual for kids her age, like the meaning of life and death. Even though she was interested in the arts since as early as middle school, Orsato followed the traditional schooling of Vicenza and graduated in Theological sciences. However, at just the age of eighteen, she became pregnant and found herself living a life that was quite different from her peers. But, she admits, these experiences all contributed to her having a different, deeper understanding of both life and art.

After graduation, Orsato did a specialization course in disabilities while also enrolling as an elementary school teacher to make the ends meet. She later got her master’s degree in art therapy. In 1993, Loria Orsato had her public exhibition – thus formally starting her career as an artist which continues today.

Painting On GlassFor most of her career, Loria Orsato made a name for herself for her glass paintings. Glass paintings, while an old tradition, are not so common in the modern landscape due to the difficulty and costs involved. One of the most striking features of Orsato’s art is her insistence on using colors that mimic her native home. Dissatisfied with the standard colors that artists use to paint fantastical but unreal landscapes, Orsato usually creates her own colors that most closely resemble the natural landscape of Vicenza. Blue and yellow are the colors featured most prominently in her works. In 2015, Loria Orsato set up her solo exhibition in her hometown of Recoaro. Titled ‘Beyond the Glass… Emotions’, the exhibition featured the vast range of her glass painting. In 2018, Orsato was awarded the International Doge Award at the Venice Art Expo. She was awarded for her works ‘Espresso: Nativity‘ and ‘When Everything.. It Is Reborn’. Both works, made on the themes of nativity, were hand-painted on glass.

However, in recent years, Orsato has moved away from glass paintings and towards painting on canvas. While the medium changed, her artistic talents remained as vivid as ever. In 2021, she was one of the artists participating in a traveling exhibition dedicated to poet Dante Alighieri. Her canvas paintings were featured prominently in the exhibition.

Loria Orsato continues teaching in elementary school, as well as teaching Hands That Dance – a dance therapy she invented in 2015. Orsato is also a writer and published her first book in 2015. Titled ‘My Neighbour and his four wives’, the book contains various short stories Orsato started writing after the death of her father in 2012. Her writings were also part of the short film “The Fir Tress of North East” which featured in the Cortomontagna festival in Tolmezzo in 2020.