Articles by: S. P.

  • Events: Reports

    Art Exhibition by Franco Costalonga "Revolution"

    The exhibition Revolution will focus on the artist's most kinetic works, powered by motors and illuminated by light bulbs, such as "Riflex" and "Oggetti Cromocinetici".

    Kinetic art, or kineticism, is an international movement that refers to art of both real and
    apparent motion. At its heart were artists who were fascinated by the possibilities of movement in art and its potential to create new and more interactive relationships with the viewer.

    Kineticism went beyond the boundaries of the traditional, handcrafted, static object, engaging the viewer and encouraging the idea that the beauty of an object could be manifested through an optical illusion or a mechanical movement.
     

    Still producing art to this day, Costalonga’s initial research was first aimed to the investigation of brightness gradients on kinetic objects. The artist’s main goal has always been to seamlessly combine of Art, Science and Technology; sub sequentially, with his chromo kinetic objects, he was finally able to cross the confinements of painting and create artwork that seamlessly blended elements of color, light architecture and sculpture.
     

    About the artist: Franco Costalonga (b.Venice,1933). In 1965 he joined the Dialettica delle Tendenze group and started employing different materials in the attempt to create new surfaces that could generate three-dimensional forms. His research brought him to Bruno Munari‘s Sette-Veneto group (linked to Brescia’s Centro Operativo Sincron).

    Costalonga was thus able to thoroughly develop his interest in kinetic and visual effects. In 1969 Peggy Guggenheim acquired for her collection Costalonga’s work Sphere, made of Perspex and chromium metal.

    The artist has been the recipient of many awards for his work in the fields of furnishings and design and has taken part in many national and international art shows among which: the 1966 Quadriennale of Rome, the itinerant exhibition of The Arts Council of Great Britain, the 1970 Venice Biennale, the exhibition Grands et Jeunes d’aujourd’hui -Art cinetique Peinture-Sculpture at the Grand Palais of Paris in 1972, the Internationale Kunstmesse-Art5, Base in1974l.

    In 1978 he founded the group Verifica 8+1, focusing on concrete and structural art. In the 1980s and 1990s he took part in several Venice Biennales. The artist currently lives in Venice.

  • Events: Reports

    Antonio Pietrangeli: A Retrospective


    Combining the moral urgency of Neorealism with the satirical eye of commedia all’italiana, Pietrangeli’s work is centered on the evolving role of women in Italian society, as ancient traditions began to crumble after the collapse of fascism.


    From the provincial woman (Irene Galter) working as a maid in Rome in his first film, Empty Eyes (1953), to the bedazzled starlet (a magnificent Stefania Sandrelli), suddenly elevated from the working class, in his last completed feature, I Knew Her Well(1965), Pietrangeli’s protagonists experience the promises and perils of a new, ambiguous freedom.


    The old institutions have been weakened, but no new communities of support have risen to take their place. Progress may demand that the brothels of Rome be closed, but as the four out-of-work prostitutes of Adua and Her Friends (led by Simone Signoret) discover, society is still unwilling to allow them to live on their own terms.

    Trained as a physician, Pietrangeli began in film as an assistant on Luchino Visconti’s 1943 Ossessione, and went on to contribute to the screenplays of Visconti’s La Terra trema (1948) and Roberto Rossellini’s Europa ’51 (in which he also appears as a psychiatrist).


    But as a director, Pietrangeli quickly departed from the strict standards of Neorealism, plunging into the social satire of The Bachelor (1955), and flirting with the postcard romanticism of It Happened in Rome (1957) and the supernatural whimsy of Ghosts of Rome (1961). But it was with The Visit, in 1963, that Pietrangeli found his signature style, combining a relaxed pace, anecdotal structure, and an open visual field to create a sense of freedom and possibility, even as that freedom eludes his characters. Had Pietrangeli continued his work, he would doubtlessly have made a crucial contribution to the redefinition of cinema in the late 1960s, but his completed films are more than enough to earn him a prominent position in the history of Italian film.

    Presented by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, in collaboration with Luce Cinecittà, Rome. Organized by Dave Kehr, Adjunct Curator, Department of Film, MoMA, and Camilla Cormanni and Paola Ruggiero, Luce Cinecittà.
  • Events: Reports

    “Tripping” - Satirical Photograph Series by Sandro Giordano

    Last summer, he had an accident while riding his bicycle. As he fell, he held onto an object in his hand instead of using his hands to stop his fall. A few weeks later, a friend broke his leg on some rocks while avoiding dropping his smartphone in water during a fall. And thus his photo series, In Extremis, was born.
     

    Giordano has been sharing the In Extremis (Bodies With No Regret), with his nearly 50,000 Instagram followers. There is a comical side to this tragedy, a way to laugh at ourselves where each of us could become the ‘victim.’ So he set out to capture the moment of impact.

    Giordano captures the downfall of man — literally. face plants, falling, belly flops and drops are the subject of the series, with men and women head-first into the ground, their belongings strewn around them in the inevitable mess.
     

    ‘My photographs are short stories about a falling-down world.‘ Giordano describes ‘each shot tells about worn out characters who, as if a sudden black-out of mind and body took over, let themselves crash with no attempt to save themselves, unable, because of the fatigue of the everyday representation of living, oppressed by appearance instead of simply existing.’
     

    Artist Biography
    Sandro Giordano was born in Rome on October 1972. He studied set design at the "|stituto di cinematogralia e televisionedi Roberto Rossellini" in Rome. Immediately alter graduating hebegan workin as a light and sound engineer in Roman theatres.

    In 1993, he studied acting in one of Rome's best private schools and the following year he began his professional career as an actor with directors such as Luciano Melchionna and Giancarlo Cobelli on stage and Dario Argento, Davide Marengo, Carlo Verdone and again Melchionna on film.

    Sick and tired of the entertainment industry, Sandro moved to Barcelona where he's lived since 2010.

    He often returns to Rome to because he's in the cast of the show "Dignita' Autonome di Prostituzione" to which he is deeply attached. Since October 2013, Sandro has been entirely devoted to the photographic project IN EXTREMIS (bodies with no regrets). Giordano visually manipulates everyday occurrences, creating twisted and often hilarious situations, depicting people in the moment after a fall. The bodies, posed in awkward positions and photographed from unflattering angles, portray a falling-down world.

    L I F E Gallery is a New York based Art Gallery that was founded based on two principles: the discovery and promotion of talented artists and the guidance of collectors and development of work of art investment value. Life is an Art Gallery but most important, a platform for talents with a long term view, guiding its artists and collectors.
     

    “Tripping” opens to the public on July 23rd, and runs through August 1st, 2015. Life Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11:00 am to 6:00 pm. For more information  visit website www.lifegallerynyc.com. 
  • Events: Reports

    Dylan Dog: Victim of Circumstance

    Dylan Dog, Dylan Dog is an Italian horror comics series featuring an eponymous character (a paranormal investigator) created by Tiziano Sclavi for the publishing house Sergio Bonelli Editore. Though published in Italy, the series is mainly set in London, where the protagonist lives, though he occasionally travels elsewhere. 

    The comics have been adapted into two films: Cemetery Man (original title: Dellamorte Dellamore, 1994) starring Rupert Everett and Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (2011) starring Brandon Routh and the latest Vittima degli eventi .

    Vittima degli eventi is a web movie based on the acclaimed Italian comic book series Dylan Dog, published by Sergio Bonelli. It is a grassroots project which bases its success on fan participation, also known as crowd-funding, which in Italy is perceived as an alternative and innovative method of self-funding. 

    The feature film (50mins) is an Italian project launched by director Claudio Di Biagio and script-writer/actor Luca Vecchi. After the previews in Rome, Naples and Milan (October 20th-23rd) and the Youtube launch by The JackaL on November 2nd in Europe, Dylan Dog crosses the ocean to the United States.

    The creators of Vittima degli Eventi are Claudio di Biagio and Luca Vecchi: Claudio wears the director’s hat, while Luca is the scriptwriter and actor. These two young professional video-markers have become renowned online thanks to their numerous video projects and original ideas.

    Luca Vecchi is the director of The Pills, a group of youngsters who stood out due to their acclaimed web series. Luca Vecchi is also the ghostwriter of Comedy Central and Bonsai Ninja Studio. Winner of the section Letteratura MarteLive 2010, he wrote Claudio Di Biagio’s cinematographic debut film: Andarevia for RaiCinema. He has also published a collection of books entitled Fantafornication.

    Casa Italiana NYU is an institutional hub for Italians in New York City and for Americans who want to learn about Italy. The venue will host the international premiere (with English subtitles) which will be followed by a Q&A session with the director and the leading actor Valerio Di Benedetto.

    The event, organized by TheCreativeShake (an American creative communication agency based in the city), will be followed by a buffet sponsored by Ribalta Pizza, Rocchetta water, Moretti beer and artisanal gelato by Amorino Chelsea.

    The movie teaser will be shown on November 12th at 7PM at Ribalta restaurant.
    Watch the trailer for Vittima degli Eventi