where earth is ennobled and the colors wake up. Downstairs is more
technical. “The mixture of clays is from France, Germany, Spain.. we add
it to the ingredients that will give the porcelain the subtle colour and its
hardness”. On these secret recipes Cesare becomes secretive like a great chef.
Afterwards the stages looks like the process of bronze investment casting:
the molding, the shapes, the cutting into pieces, the imprint in the plaster,
the reproduction in rubber molds, the laying of the material in a thin layer,
the recomposition of the piece, the insertion of a punch to support the larger
pieces while cooking, two or three times at more than 1200°. Every step is
a risk. Every mishap forces to start over again from the beginning. The big
Michael Jackson’s statue by Jeff Koons forced the Villari team to break it up
in almost 100 different pieces, afterwards reassembled together. A delicate
work “like when you build a house, you have to assemble the base and then
you have to wait until it is dry and then you add the pieces for the higher
level, and then you have to wait again.. and so on”, says Cesare. Hundreds of
hours of hard work and anxiety and than this great joy, the victory obtained
and the confirmation of virtuosity, capacity and excellence. Villari’s style
enters in the big tradition of Capodimonte, the production started in Naples
by the Bourbon King Charles in the 18th Century. Goblets, centre-pieces,
chandeliers, candlesticks.. animated by angels, animals and characters. All
often baroque, animated by a light of their own, with a fascinating shiny
glow. “So do you reserve these decorations of another century for the ancient
palaces?” “Of course not! Look at a minimal room for example, all white, a
table and some chairs, of a chilling whiteness. Put in the middle of the table
some chubby angels in white ceramic and all of a sudden the joie de vivre
appears. What’s the decorative utility of a golden elephant? Imagine a very
contemporary décor warmed up by an ethnic collection of terra-cotta and
wooden African sculptures. The elephant in the middle of this will exalt the
chiaroscuro of terra-cotta and ebony. Never forget that decoration is like a
game, and in this game Villari is a master of phantasmagoria.
Marchi a fuoco Villari