by Annalisa Tancredi
A painting shows the image of an abandoned suburb, invaded by junk but unable to respond effectively to emergencies. This time the waste issue is told through the eyes of an artist, steeped in materialism and desolation, loneliness and cumbersome, a mirror of the inadequacy of the administrative system and of the style of consumption our society still pursues.
«Environmental sustainability and artistic creativity combined to stimulate reflection on environmental issues». The climate, energy, pollution, recycling are the topics discussed at the national competition AxA - Art for the Environment, ended on 9 October, organized by “La forza del Segno” and supported by the municipalities of Cassina de 'Pecchi, Comazzo and Gorgonzola.
An opportunity to celebrate the marriage between art, environment and environmental communication, in which artists are spectators of the collective history and, simultaneously, reporters of their own reality in real time. Through the painting medium, art talks to us in a sensitive and soft language, but full of communicative functions which leads the viewer to reflect, inside himself, on the consequences of a simple daily act for the collective welfare.
The exhibitions were attended by 97 pieces of work from all over Italy and, of particular impact was the picture of Josè Augusto, painter and glazier from Licata, son of Cesare Augusto, a painter. Since 2007 Josè has decided to direst his work to social art ".. illuminated by the fact that we can love our own territory, not only praising the beauty, but also denouncing its defects and environmental degradation. I painted our natural beauty for years but then dissatisfaction took root: I was tired of painting subjects in which I could not find the Truth". His work "Suburbs", is a painting of empty boxes, cartons left on the ground, long dark shadows and a suburban wasteland as a backdrop.
What did drive you into painting "Suburbs"?
«Reality of Licata city is contrasted between beautiful landscapes and a situations similar to the third world: for years the suburbs have been like a landfill full of tires, appliances and trash piles. It represents the perfect balance between poor civic pride and administrative mismanagement».
What does the painting represent for you?
«Those rows of metal containers, in themself, are a pollutant. For years, I was putting in my garbage, and for me they are the mirror of administrative situations have occurred: clean and tidy during good management periods, dirty and forgotten during maladministration».
What would you like it to represent for the audience?
«For me it is very important to see the reaction of the audience: there are those who simply say "Good!", those who confessed they would never buy a picture like that, and those who don’t stop even for a moment to watch it, I think because the issue touches him too much closely».
Which lessons from your father do you enshrine?
«My father taught me to find beauty even where it’s hard to see, for example, when I paint a crumpled plastic bottle».
Which kind of resources would you use for planning an environmental communication campaign?
«I am not able to talk about communication, but if unintentionally I do that through my works is because I think a picture, albeit crude, is the best way to slam on people's faces the sad reality. We are used to live in paradoxical situations, and this doesn’t help people to change their attitude towards the environment».
«Environmental sustainability and artistic creativity combined to stimulate reflection on environmental issues». The climate, energy, pollution, recycling are the topics discussed at the national competition AxA - Art for the Environment, ended on 9 October, organized by “La forza del Segno” and supported by the municipalities of Cassina de 'Pecchi, Comazzo and Gorgonzola.
An opportunity to celebrate the marriage between art, environment and environmental communication, in which artists are spectators of the collective history and, simultaneously, reporters of their own reality in real time. Through the painting medium, art talks to us in a sensitive and soft language, but full of communicative functions which leads the viewer to reflect, inside himself, on the consequences of a simple daily act for the collective welfare.
The exhibitions were attended by 97 pieces of work from all over Italy and, of particular impact was the picture of Josè Augusto, painter and glazier from Licata, son of Cesare Augusto, a painter. Since 2007 Josè has decided to direst his work to social art ".. illuminated by the fact that we can love our own territory, not only praising the beauty, but also denouncing its defects and environmental degradation. I painted our natural beauty for years but then dissatisfaction took root: I was tired of painting subjects in which I could not find the Truth". His work "Suburbs", is a painting of empty boxes, cartons left on the ground, long dark shadows and a suburban wasteland as a backdrop.
What did drive you into painting "Suburbs"?
«Reality of Licata city is contrasted between beautiful landscapes and a situations similar to the third world: for years the suburbs have been like a landfill full of tires, appliances and trash piles. It represents the perfect balance between poor civic pride and administrative mismanagement».
What does the painting represent for you?
«Those rows of metal containers, in themself, are a pollutant. For years, I was putting in my garbage, and for me they are the mirror of administrative situations have occurred: clean and tidy during good management periods, dirty and forgotten during maladministration».
What would you like it to represent for the audience?
«For me it is very important to see the reaction of the audience: there are those who simply say "Good!", those who confessed they would never buy a picture like that, and those who don’t stop even for a moment to watch it, I think because the issue touches him too much closely».
Which lessons from your father do you enshrine?
«My father taught me to find beauty even where it’s hard to see, for example, when I paint a crumpled plastic bottle».
Which kind of resources would you use for planning an environmental communication campaign?
«I am not able to talk about communication, but if unintentionally I do that through my works is because I think a picture, albeit crude, is the best way to slam on people's faces the sad reality. We are used to live in paradoxical situations, and this doesn’t help people to change their attitude towards the environment».
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