At the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, Charles Fazzino, like so many others, turned to his craft to express the depth of his emotions.
“I was all alone in my studio, I was so upset by what was going on in the world. The whole world. So many people struggling and so much chaos and upheaval. I had to get that out of me…so I just started painting.” – Charles Fazzino
The resulting work is a dramatic 4-panel, 8-foot painting titled “Coronavirus Threatens Our World.” Each panel depicts another place affected by the virus and each scene is packed with symbolism and represents Fazzino’s view of a world under siege. The free-flowing form and curvature of the structures conveys a sense of whimsy, typical of a Fazzino composition. In this piece, the whimsy is full of irony as buildings change into hypodermic needles to attack the virus and the animated edifices cry out in pain and sadness.
In the first panel, the virus appears impervious to all of the drugs being hurled at it from below and in the third, money is sucked up into the virus, representing the damage being done to the world’s economy. It’s the Bear’s day on Wall Street as the Bull looks on in dismay with a tear in its eye.
“I decided not to make this painting three-dimensional, the three dimensionality of my work is part of the joy…part of the fun…the Coronavirus isn’t fun.” – Charles Fazzino
As you struggle with your own challenges posed by the pandemic, think about how you are seeing the world. The images we are creating now will live on and be part of our cultural consciousness forever. They will define the vision of those who lived through this time in history. Through both this painting and his work “This Soon Shall Pass,” it’s obvious that Charles Fazzino, like so many of us, is experiencing a huge dichotomy of emotion. The pain is real. The suffering is real. But so is the hope….and in the end, he…and we….all hope to come out of this stronger and more together than ever.
