Urban Art Conferences
I am happy to announce my participation as an artist and professor expert of contemporary art, for the edition: “Discovering Contemporary Art: Theories, Practices and Languages” by “Uni Auser Genova”. My lecture will deal with the theme of the value of vandalism in post urban contemporary art. Thursday 21 November 2024 from 3.00 pm to 5.00 pm in the Conference Room of Villa Croce, Contemporary Art Museum.
The History of Urban Art, a form of expression, that has origins that trace back to early human civilization. The practice began with prehistoric petroglyphs—symbolic carvings and images etched onto rock surfaces, serving as humanity’s first ventures into visual communication. These rudimentary forms of expression laid the groundwork for an expansive evolution of the language. In contemporary discourse, the significance of post-urban art continues to evolve, particularly in a digital age where art is often consumed online and shaped by popular consensus. Questions arise regarding the authenticity and value of art when colored by trends and algorithms. How do we measure an artist’s worth in a society that sometimes reduces their narrative to mere digital presence, diluted over time and interaction?
As we transitioned into the 21st century, a new phenomenon emerged: post-vandalism. This movement stands out for the use of a visual and narrative language of rupture, the subjects are often inspired by the charm of urban aesthetics, the periphery, the degradation, factors that reflect the state of health of contemporary society, at the same time, this current winks at Dadaism and pop art sharing a territory already explored in the official artistic context, but which remains in the society that oozes it from the pores of capitalism, these themes addressed by the new generations have been in the last 20 years the authentic reflection of the innovation of contemporary urban art, which has nothing to do with the redevelopment processes that many artists / decorators enhance and advertise as art, because if we talk about urban art then we talk about that labile border between activism and vandalism, but above the history of the artists that have created new languages, compared to what is known and exists.
At the Academy of Fine Arts Genoa, with a lesson on the origin and meaning of symbols, tomorrow we will talk about The origin of contemporary era – 09.04.2024 and the Symbol, from the Stone Age to Christianity – 20.03.2024. Computer Art Course, at Academy of Fine Arts Genoa.
What is the symbol? how man created language, writing and meanings in images and how these have been used in contemporary society. The symbol, logo or brand from its origins to today is an element that contains knowledge, knowledge of hidden languages. In this section of History of Art between Symbol and Myth some aspects of the relationship between Art and Symbol will be examined. Works of art, whatever culture they come from, constitute a boundless repertoire of symbols. Contemporary man has largely lost the hidden meaning of these works.
When it appears, the Symbol is always an integral part of the Work; it constitutes the key to understanding it; indeed very often the artistic artifacts presents itself as the simple vehicle for transmitting the symbol itself. Art and Symbol can be considered inseparable from each other in the history of humanity since its origins.
Ever since man felt the need to understand his own existence and the world around him, he has expressed this with the help of Art. He created artifacts that not only had some everyday functionality, but which had parts in their structure that were connected to an “other” reality. This is what has happened in the logo society since the industrial era, but is this way of thinking and designing still valid today? Has this society, daughter of the digital revolution, lost the need to express itself with correctly designed symbols?