Peace Painting

Franco Cisternino - Bio Franco Cisternino was born in Foggia in 1969. He spent his childhood in a humble and modest family atmosphere, which has forced him to grow up quickly. The fact that he had to serve not only his own needs, but also those of his family, certainly penalized a natural evolution of his growth; yet, on the other hand, this contributed to determine the fundamental characteristics of its way of creating. He attended the State Institute for Arts in Foggia and obtained the diploma as an art teacher; in this period, during his studies, so as not to burden the family budget, he started painting portraits on commission, unwittingly laying the groundwork for what will be subsequently reconstructed as one of his characteristic periods. For work reasons, he moved with his family first to Turin and then to Aprilia (province of Latina). In 2007, his love for art and Tuscany led him to move with his family to a village nestled in the hills in the province of Pisa. Before exhibiting in complete autonomy, however, it is necessary to mention the initial sharing of his passion for art with his twin brother Carmine (exhibiting as “Gemelli in Arte [Twin Brothers in Art − TN]”); soon, however, his personality − curious and in constant motion, led him to undertake an autonomous journey, in a crescendo of stimuli and achievements. The particularly difficult conditions of his family life, combined with a strong sense of altruism and an extraordinary empathic ability, led Cisternino to be a careful and responsible man. Over time, he will become a protective and sensitive adult, towards both other human beings, and nature and the environment. The first period of the artist, conventionally placed between the years 2006-2013, focuses on landscapes undermined by man's intervention: deforestation, fires, and desertification ... wounds to the core that a delicate soul like him can barely stand. The new conditions for the subsequent stylistic period arose when Cisternino left his family of origin to start a family of his own. The birth of the two daughters led him to investigate the world of childhood − perhaps never fully lived, acting on him as a stimulus to understand and capture emotions, which he never had the chance to experience fully.