| Description: | This course examines the latest trends in the arts of contemporary Italy through the direct experience of the work of living artists. Has globalization abolished the barriers between countries and continents? The so-called "globish" (globalized artistic languages) has been replacing regional languages, on the one hand leveling experiences, on the other allowing more exchange and interaction between peoples of different and distant geographical areas. How does the art world respond to this process of globalization? How do today's artists from Italy, a country with such an important cultural heritage, position themselves, maintaining their own individuality and regional traits, while at the same time engaging with a global panorama that tends to flatten differences? Students in this course will analyze the work of important Italian artists today. They will have the opportunity to become familiar with the strategies and means they adopt: mixed media, video, digital art, as well as the more traditional media of painting and sculpture. Part of the course will include direct encounters with cutting-edge contemporary artists such as Dario Bartolini, Giuseppe Restano, Marina Bolmini and Kinkaleri, who will personally illustrate their tensions, aesthetics, and production. Meetings will take place either in their studios or in class and are organized in order to allow direct engagement with these leading figures of the Italian and international art scene. This course is particularly suitable for students interested in becoming artists and gallery curators as well as those with an interest in the history of art. |