Son of a sculptor, he was born in Sant’Agata di Esaro 46 in
the 1950, in Calabria. During his childhood he reveals himself as an “enfant
prodige” for his innate ability as a portrait-painter. When he was only 14
years old he created two religious paintings; one is now in the main church of
is native village; the other, of noteworthy dimensions (m 220 x m 4) can be
seen in the main church of Mottafollone (CS). In his juvenile works he used
the oil-painting technique; besides, he produced copies of the “Great
Masters” of the past such as Sebastiano del Piombo, Pietro Paolo Rubens,
Francesco Guardi, etc. …, achieving this way a refined skill, which can be
considered as preliminary to the innovative techniques the artist has used so
far.
We can infer that
Borrello’s masterpieces are the result of the moral support that his mother
Carmelina gave him because she has been the first woman to believe firmly in
his skill and to stimulate him from his early childhood both his innate talent
and his obstinate research. As a self-taught artist he was able to refine
techniques that, in my opinion, may attribute to him the definition of
“Engraver of the sign”.
Since 1979 he was lived and
worked in Turin, where he could achieve an exceptional perfection, thanks to
the sophisticated structures seated in this city. Most of his artistic
education is due to the study of the Great Masters of the Renaissance that
later on has made him invent two new techniques, the “biro-painting” and
the “painting with metallic points” (silver, gold, palladium, platinum,
titanium) and put them into practice; such metals have been listed from the
least hard to the hardest. Moreover he used oil, pastel, tempera,
water-colour, pencil, ink, red crayon, chalk, lithography, etching.
By these two new techniques
he can create impressive hyperrealistic works. He draws faces, anatomical
details, portraits, religious subjects, landscapes and still-lives which are
characterised by a peculiar and striking vivacity.
Milan, 11 april 1997
Rosaria Barone