Clouds and Myths: contemporary prints go on display

The haunting prints of artist Lino Mannocci (b. 1945) are showcased in an exhibition opening today at The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Clouds and Myths: Monotypes by Lino Mannocci brings together over thirty recent works exploring the world of myth and its resonance. Depicting isolated figures set within poetic landscapes dominated by cloud or sea, and alluding to sources as diverse as Greek mythology, the work of Ovid, the Bible and poetry across the ages, Mannocci’s enigmatic prints resist exact definition, yet resound with meaning.

"Lino Mannocci’s art is suggestive rather than definitive," says Craig Hartley, Senior Assistant Keeper of Prints at The Fitzwilliam Museum. "Every move he makes opens up possibilities rather than narrowing our understanding to a focal point. His clouds are intended to enrich - formally, spiritually, atmospherically - rather than obscure the subject."

Clouds and Myths is accompanied by a smaller concurrent exhibition, The Angel and the Virgin: A Brief History of the Annunciation, curated by Lino Mannocci himself. For this complementary display Mannocci has selected 15th-17th century old master prints from the Fitzwilliam’s own collection that explore the theme of the Annunication - a narrative that inspires much of his own work. Artists on display include Domenico Veneziano, Albrecht Dürer and Martin Schongauer.

9 February 2010