The actor gathers 53 paintings in an exhibition in Germany, there are works never exhibited from the 60s, as well as more recent large-format pieces.
He is known worldwide as Rocky or Rambo. However, the origins of the career of this icon of action films go back to art, as reflected in the first exhibition in Germany of his paintings, in the town of Hagen.
To accompany the opening of this exhibition, the Hollywood star even personally traveled there.
The stellar actor presents himself with a powerful Good Morning on the stage of the Osthaus Museum in Hagen. Soon after, when Sylvester Stallone sees his own works displayed on museum walls for the first time, seems a bit intimidated of the role that he has to play this time.
Because Stallone is not here as the famous action icon, but rather presents the most private art, as he calls it himself: the one that compose his own paintings.
In dialogue with dpa, he affirms that, when one is painting, one “only has himself and his soul.” In contrast to acting in the cinema, where he ensures that you can always hold someone or something responsible for what goes wrong. As a painter, he says, you can only trust yourself.
This is the first time Stallone has exhibited this long-unknown artistic streak of his in Germany, and the venue chosen is in the traditional exhibition house in the Ruhr area.
The sample Sylvester Stallone. The best of life / Retrospective for his 75th birthday. Paintings 1966-2020 gathers 53 original paintings, among which are works never exhibited from the 60s, as well as more recent large-format pieces.
There you can see figures of heroes in great size, sometimes reduced to their outlines, sometimes sprayed on the canvas with a paint can and stencil, like a wall graphite.
Stallone describes the process of painting as rather spontaneous (“This behind me must have been a horse, and look what it became”), and sometimes also therapeutic.
The actor points out that he paints especially well when he feels bad. “Who wants to paint in good spirits on a beautiful day?” He asks.
Over the decades, he created paintings that the museum’s director, Tayfun Belgin, aptly describes as “colorful, powerful, sometimes also infused with exaggeration.”
“A kind of figurative-expressive style”, for which Stallone assures that he was inspired by surrealism, expressionism and abstract painting.
“I tend to show my true nature in my paintings, and this one is packed with action, it really is. That’s the way I am, ”Stallone told dpa.
And that is why most of the time during his artistic creation he was not sure if people would understand or be interested in his art, or if it would even scare them, he confesses. It was only a few years ago that he was convinced by the Gmurzynska Gallery to hold an exhibition in Switzerland.
It was quickly followed by museum exhibits in St. Petersburg (2013), Russia; Nice (2015), France; and currently the one that takes place in Hagen, Germany.
Picture Finding Rocky, which dates back to 1975, shows that painting has for decades already cultivated an indissoluble link with Stallone’s film career, and indeed also with his rise to legend on the big screen.
There is a muscular man with a melancholic look, with the threatening New York Bronx in the background. Stallone carved his first idea into paint with a screwdriver, looking for it to have an archaic appearance like that of a cave drawing.
It was only later that Stallone – frustrated by his slow acting career – wrote the screenplay for Rocky, A film that later won several Oscars, that quintessential American legend, about the rise of a bone crusher to boxing champion.
Even the first sketch of the paper in his life could pass for a self-portrait of the young Stallone: he literally carved Rocky on his own body.
But is it more than just his famous name that Stallone brings to such an exhibition? “It is very good art”, points out with conviction the gallery owner Mathias Rastorfer, executive director of the Gmurzynska Gallery.
In tune with these words, the director of the museum, Belgin, also manifests: “This force of painting shows a thoroughbred painter, just as a thoroughbred actor is in his films.” Naturally, he admits, a famous name makes things easier.
“However, a good name can be tarnished with bad paintings”, he points out, to later clarify that in this case a good name is combined with good paintings.
The exhibition in Hagen opened its doors to the public on Saturday, December 4, and can be visited until February 22, 2022.
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
