Date: Fri 27-Feb-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: JUDYC

Quick Words:

Visionary

Full Text:

Retrospective of the visionary art of A.G. Rizzoli at Museum of American folk

art

w/cut

NEW YORK CITY -- Among the most intriguing discoveries in recent years is the

work of Achilles G. Rizzoli (1896-1981), a San Francisco architectural

draftsman who created a unique and complete visual language that blends

architecture and text.

"A.G. Rizzoli: Architect Of Magnificent Visions," on view through March 8 at

the Museum of American Folk Art, is the first survey of the idiosyncratic

drawings and related literary works of an extraordinary artist. What at first

appear to be beautifully rendered and literal architectural drawings, on

closer view are revealed to be what the artist called "symbolizations" or

"transfigurations," symbolic portraits of people he knew, expressed in

architectural terms with written word plays.

The installation will be designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien and Associates,

architects for the museum's recently announced new building on West 53rd

Street. The refined design provides a counterpoint for the ornate and poetic

drawings.

Organized by the San Diego Museum of Art with Jo Farb Hernandez as curator,

the exhibition consists of approximately 85 works on paper, including large

architectural drawings, illuminated poems, and visionary writings.

The exhibition focuses on Rizzoli's elaborate colored ink portraits of people,

depicted as fantastic imaginary architectural monuments, such as his first

major artistic creation, "Mother Symbolically Represented/The Kathedral," a

combination birthday card and full-scale drawing symbolizing the strength,

beauty and spirituality of his mother. His meticulously rendered elevations of

fanciful buildings combine Beaux-Arts architectural idioms with an eclectic

borrowing of Roman, Renaissance, Baroque, Art Deco, and Art Nouveau styles.

As the number of architectural portraits increased, Rizzoli concurrently

developed an elaborately detailed plot plan to situate the growing number of

structures that constituted his utopian city, the Y.T.T.E. (pronounced

"it-ty"), an acronym for Yield to Total Elation. Inspired by the 1915

Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, Rizzoli adopted a symmetrical and

axial arrangement, organizing his buildings around ceremonial courts.

Embellished with calligraphic manifestos and mysterious acronyms, his designs

for Y.T.T.E. portray a heaven of magnificent grandiose towers, cathedrals, and

shrines. As the Y.T.T.E. grew in complexity, Rizzoli described it as an

"Expeau of Magnifitude, Magnificence, and Manifestations."

Many works reveal a keen sense of humor and awareness of popular culture.

"Shirley Jean Bersie Symbolically Sketched/Shirley's Temple," a portrait of

Rizzoli's six-year old neighbor, combines extravagant ornamentation and

architectural precision with an obvious Hollywood reference. Other works such

as "The Primalglimse at Forty" and "The Bluesea House" describe Rizzoli's late

awareness of human sexuality that occurred in adulthood.

Born in northern California in 1896, Rizzoli moved to San Francisco in 1915,

following a series of personal family traumas. He enrolled in a polytechnic

institute where he took architectural drafting courses - though he was never

certified as an architect - and subsequently worked as a draftsman for more

than 30 years.

In 1927 he began writing a series of novellas and short stories about a group

of idealistic architects that were unanimously rejected by newspapers and

magazines. It was not until 1935 that he began what would become a lifelong

obsession, a series of architectural portraits, devoting nights and weekends

to his monumental, secret task.

Through his drawings and writings, Rizzoli escaped his reality as the shy,

repressed son of poor immigrants, becoming "High Prince" and "Master

Architect" in a world of his own delineation. A deeply spiritual man, Rizzoli

attributed his talent and his mission to his asceticism, openness to God, and

divine inspiration.

Although Rizzoli was eager to share his architectural creations with the

public, the presentations he organized in the family residence were attended

only by a few neighborhood children and relatives. He arranged a "gallery" in

the front room of his house for the "Achilles Tectonic Exhibit" (ATE). Each

visitor was later honored with an architectural portrait, although most never

knew about or saw them.

A.G. Rizzoli's architectural visions remained undiscovered during his

lifetime. He died in obscurity in 1981 at the age of 85, and there is no

evidence that he ever expected that his projects would be executed.

It was in 1990 that hundreds of the artist's drawings were found stuffed in

the rafters of a great nephew's garage, and his life's work, recognized as a

major artistic achievement.

A catalogue of the same title, with essays by Hernandez, John Beardsley, and

Roger Cardinal, has been published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. The soft cover is

$17.95 and the hard cover is $35 and may be ordered through the Museum of

American Fokk Art Book and Gift Shop, Two Lincoln Square, New York, N.Y.

10023.