Pozzallo, 3 August 1946 - Pozzallo, 14 August 1993

He attended primary and middle school in Pozzallo and the Industrial Technical Institute in Ragusa, where he graduated as an industrial expert in the 1965-1966 school year: like all his peers, he loved playing football, however dedicating part of his time to painting, which he felt had a strong attraction. Carmelo had in fact soon begun to become familiar with brushes and colours: they also communicated extraordinary emotions to him, managing to transfer onto canvas panoramas, glimpses of the sea or countryside, which he was particularly fascinated by. This is how his first paintings were born, the expression of a soul enchanted by the encounter with nature: through the skilful use of his palette, he visualized an almost enchanted world which, at a certain point, he however had to abandon to deal with reality and the events of life.

At just over 22 years old he married Matilde Giardina, with whom he had two children, and found work in Gela, from where he returned to Pozzallo for the weekend.

Despite his work commitments, he still managed to find the space that allowed him to open up to uncontainable inspiration, taking part in numerous exhibitions both in Gela and in other cities and thus starting to face critics and the public: he began on 4 May 1976 in Gela, taking part in an impromptu exhibition organized for the "Maggio Gelese" which earned him the first prize ex-equo. Others followed, such as the collective organized by the “Il Gattopardo” Cultural Club of Favara, the “Marsalese International Biennale” and the “National Biennale” of Campofranco, in the province of Caltanissetta, in which he was awarded a prestigious recognition. There were many visitors and the critics supported the work of this young man who painted his ideal world with joy and melancholy, made palpable by a chromaticism that managed to capture even the attention of the superficial observer.

Without a doubt, exhibitions are an important vehicle for a painter who aspires and dreams of making his artistic production known: and Carmelo Blandino did not neglect sculpture either, although painting remained the central point of his production. Among other things, he took care of small-format "pictures", which require precision and meticulousness, earning him fourth prize at the "Regional mini-picture competition" in Syracuse, a prize later repeated at the "Biennale" in Ragusa.

The years from 1976 to 1982 were probably those that marked his greatest production, as can be seen from the new "personal" exhibitions at the "Botteguccia" in Gela, at the "Rogasi" Middle School in Pozzallo, at the "Amici dell'Arte" Club in Modica. Rosario Medoro, an art critic and freelance journalist, wrote about him as "the color with low and warm tones responds to the same purpose and character of his essentially intimate painting, aimed at the discovery of interior nostalgias suggested by a practice of memory".

Furthermore, it cannot be forgotten that Carmelo Blandino, when painting, managed to demonstrate an extraordinary "pozzallesità", as can be seen from the images of the Marina, the sea, the Cabrera Tower, the rural districts, the solitary houses.

Unfortunately, on 14 August 1993, at just 47 years of age, liver cancer deprived him of the affection of his wife, children and family: a death that came precisely in the years of greatest creativity, those which form the artist, which mature him, which give the painter that strong personality destined to improve his work.

He knew how to convey his emotions in his paintings, transforming reality into images at the very moment of inspiration. This was Carmelo Blandino, but he was also and above all a loyal, sincere, generous, mature man, rich in humanity, extroverted, a dreamer of a clean world that he always tried to transfer onto the canvas with an equally clean style, respecting the balance of colors and the musicality of the chiaroscuro which highlight its strength. And to this he was able to combine the love for his hometown of which, by revisiting the more or less evocative corners linked to his childhood, he was able to tell the story of everyday life.

Source:Luigi Rogasi, Pozzallesi of the 20th century, one hundred names not to be forgotten.