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Institute of Fine Arts >
Institute of Fine Arts Conference Proceedings >
Photo Archives and the Photographic Memory of Art History, part III >
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/2451/29913
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| Title: | Reassemblage: Italy's 1930s Illustrated Magazines as Visual Archives |
| Authors: | Pelizzari, Maria Antonella |
| Keywords: | photography
photo archives
photomontage
art and politics
Italy |
| Issue Date: | 24-Feb-2011 |
| Abstract: | The paper presents a new research project that investigates Italian
photomontage through the pages of illustrated magazines published in the
Thirties. These magazines--released in Milan by Mondadori, Rizzoli,
Bompiani--have become a critical source to learn about an artistic
practice that was pervasive at this time. Unfortunately, the original
mock-ups have been destroyed, and the photographers' archives have been
rarely kept together, thus these illustrated magazines offer the only
context to see these works and understand the inner workings between
photography, architecture, fashion, publicity, and the graphic arts.
This presentation shows the early results of a larger research that aims
to study the politics involved in Italian modern photography and montage
through its magazine culture, taking into consideration the issues
debated for the earlier Weimar culture and media. Photomontage has
often been considered a revolutionary art form geared towards social
change but, in the case of Italy, it served a more reactionary political
propaganda bound to Mussolini's Fascism (1922-1943) and the growing
industrial capitalism. A close analysis of these works suggests a
complex negotiation between the artists and the politics of this time.
Undermined as reactionary and propaganda art altogether, Italian
photomontage reveals a rich creative exchange between Italy and European
avant-garde art (Surrealism, Dada, Bauhaus), presenting an alternative
language, at times even a rupture, from the art of the regime conceived
as a 'return to order.' This project uncovers new works and redefines
some important authors like Munari, Veronesi, Nizzoli, discussing the
reasons why they should be reclaimed from dusty and often inaccessible
off-site storages. |
| Description: | Conference paper presented March 25-26, 2011. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/2451/29913 |
| Appears in Collections: | Photo Archives and the Photographic Memory of Art History, part III
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