An exhibition in Bolsena

Le Sorgenti (The Source) in the little lakeside town of Bolsena has developed from small bar and bookshop to much larger restaurant and bookshop. I am full of admiration for Le Sorgenti’s founder Katia Maurelli. To sell books anywhere these days is nothing short of courage incarnated, but even more so in a small place that  hibernates in winter and in a country not known for its high proportion of readers.

There is a length of wall space so Katia has offered me an exhibition. Not since I lived in Prague in the mid-90s and used to frequent a similar place, a ‘lifestyle’ bookshop called U Knihomola (The Bookworm) in Vinohrady have I enjoyed an ambience so much. The books are predominantly concerned with local history and traditions, displayed alongside art books and esoteric subjects. ”Books” Katia says ”don’t make money, they add an extra dimension to the place”.

I have hung 5 Metamorphoses and 4 landscapes from the Belle series.

I would very much like to start a gallery in London very like the galleries I have had here in Italy but with a restaurant and bar along the lines of Le Sorgenti, a place with an Italian flavour,  a gallery with an extra dimension – watch this space.