I was born on December 26, 1942 as a Ticino citizen. I was living in the Zürich region most times of my life. I have a doctorate degree in economics of the University of Zürich. I was a member of top management in distinguished international companies (Coutts & Co. Private Banking and Zurich Insurance Group) for three decades.
I have been painting since 1978 alongside my professional career. I was given my basic artistic education by the Free Art School Zürich and by the well-known painter Hermann Hofmann. Since 1981 I made over 50 exhibitions in Switzerland and abroad (Rome, New York). 1997 I became admitted to the Lexicon of Swiss Artists by the Swiss Institute of Art Research. Since 2001 I am a member of the Swiss Mountain Painters Guild.
My motive is nature: landscapes, trees, flowers, water, sky. The effect of light and shadow plays an important role in my paintings. The different times of the day and the different seasons enable me to express the mood in a subtle way. My great challenge is to breathe life into my paintings. This happens when my paintings start to shine and when calm and movement become visible. One of the elements to express movement are clouds. Clouds move and change constantly, their position, their form, their size, their color. My philosophical issue is “movement and change”, an important part of our life. Change has neither a beginning nor an end. Would we recognize all events in our life as stations in a sequence of continuous change we would no more wish to stop time and freeze the actual life situation. In this deeper sense we could learn to accept our life as a continuous movement. From such a point of view we possibly could accept more calmly the ups and downs of life and to recognize change as the only stable in life, to discover the eternal in the impermanence.
Paintings are also a mirror of the painter’s credo. I paint as I am. I am positive and optimistic, also idealistic in a way. I believe in what is good and beautifull and I try to reflect this attitude in my paintings.
I try to paint without thinking and I believe that looking without judgement does open the door to a conscious presence. May my selection of paintings enable such moments to all the viewers.
Thank you for having read this.
Thalwil, autumn 2020
Contact: ap@adrianopassardi.ch oder +41 79 405 97 13
Address: Adriano Passardi • Alte Landtrasse 158 • CH-8800 Thalwil