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the heart of his discussion, representing human existence as an encounter between real
individuals and being from another world, a more profound and mnemonic kingdom,
where it is possible to capture a presence, safeguarding it form the degradation of time.

When the subject of Finisterre appears in Talani’s paintings, it becomes quite evident that
there has been a significant evolution in his creative process. An enigmatic and seductive
motif announces the results of this new research, born to nourish the iconography of a
new series of paintings focusing upon the theme of the “Departure”. In August 2001,
at the Modern Art Gallery in Arezzo, on the occasion of one of his personal exhibitions,
it was presented to the public.
On a distant and indistinct horizon, (cat.), we can catch a glimpse of the summit of a
plateau formed by red dunes where a flag has been hoisted on the tower of a castle,
marking the confines between the known world and Finisterre (from the Latin Finis
Terrae, “ The end of the Earth”). In his writings, the painter has indicated this as the
mythic point of arrival for every voyage. In facing Finisterre, the traveller can stop,
or turn back. But, he can also, courageously, try to pass beyond this frontier. And, in
Talani’s own words, “ the real story perhaps begins from there”.
The castle of Finisterre is, in its pictorial version, an amplification of the sand castles that
appear on the beach in his compositions in those years. They are ephemeral constructions
destined to disappear with the arrival of the waves on the shore, allowing only the flag
pole (cat.) to remain, thus permitting a cycle of incessant destruction reconstruction
(symbolically, it is the cyclical succession of events in man’s life).
At the foot of the chimerical castle is a man, a traveller, the new icon that holds the
interpretive key to Talani’s new paintings: a travel official, or rather a departures official.
The protagonist doesn’t consider departure as a concrete event, nor as part of some context
evocative of leave taking goodbyes, nor as part of some demonstration of sad adieus.
Rather, he is the incarnation of a man at a place where change is possible, where he can
make a choice, yet his soul is victim to conflicting feelings. Wavering between fear and
determination, he remains frozen, red suitcase in hand, in front of his goal– which is
both Finisterre and that idealized end that is not specified on the canvas. And, no action
at all disturbs the unreal, enchanted atmosphere of suspended animation. All this we can
see in Departures (2001 cat.) where two male figures emerge from the abstract, vibrant
crimson depths. They address the viewer exhibiting their suitcase in the foreground (the
castle of Finisterre emerges from the same firey red of the dunes, reduced to a profile
by synthetic abbreviation). The wind that ruffles their ties and hair, seems neither not
to disturb them, nor to push them to act (“they remain there in the red” Talani writes,
“waiting for something, these men with suitcases. The wind blows their ties like flag and
ravishes their faces and hair, and they….. have the departing suitcases, but they aren’t
leaving yet.)
The psychological identification of the characters assume, thus, a contained emotional
quality. The entire narration revolves around the pivot point created by the bewilderment,
provoked by imminent, imaginary separation, hesitation, and isolation (Talani intensifies
the sensation of man’s private solitude, even in the scenes where he is painted together
with others.)
Orienting himself within his well-consolidated genera, continuing to create unending
and tormenting variations, Talani transfers the departing onto the waterfront (cat.). He
includes him in the orchestras, and places him in the depths evocative of the marine
environment. He depicts him with a red rose in his mouth or under his arms, pining

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