1968 Where have all the flowers gone FINAL STUDENT EXHIBITION Florence University of the Arts School of Fine Arts SAS | School of Art and Sciences
La mostra di fine semestre degli studenti della Florence University of the Arts ha come titolo 1968: Where Have All the Flowers Gone? Reflections on 1960’s Revolutions e si concentra sulle agitazioni globali ed i movimenti controculturali degli anni ‘60. In particolare, il 1968 è stato un anno simbolo dell’epoca: negli Stati Uniti ed in Europa gli studenti universitari hanno partecipato a violenti scontri con le forze dell’ordine, a tumulti all’interno delle facoltà, ed a manifestazioni che hanno coinvolto anche i sindacati e gli operai delle fabbriche più grandi, soprattutto nel Nord Italia. Le proteste per i diritti civili e contro la guerra, incluse le rivolte a Berkeley, a Praga, in Francia, e negli scontri di Valle Giulia a Roma, che hanno caratterizzato quest’anno incredibile, sono avvenute di pari passo a tragedie come l’uccisione di Martin Luther King e Bob Kennedy, ed a meravigliose scoperte scientifiche, come l’introduzione nei circuiti aerei del primo Boeing 747, o il primo viaggio nell’orbita della Luna. Si può sostenere che non esista un’ideologia comune sul 1968, le posizioni sono state da sempre molteplici e spesso molto contrastanti. Ma l’attitudine che ha caratterizzato questo momento storico è stato senza dubbio la voglia di cambiare lo “status quo”, opponendosi alle norme della società di allora, per formare una sistematica contrapposizione a tutto ciò che riguardasse l’”establishment” ad ogni livello, dalla famiglia alla scuola, fino alle istituzioni. Ogni partito politico, ogni movimento d’opinione era in lotta con l’altro per questioni ideologiche, anche se tutte erano legate dall’odio comune nei confronti di tutto ciò che veniva considerato capitalistico, borghese o conservatore. Era il desiderio di libertà alla base del fermento culturale di quegli anni, espresso con il rigetto nei confronti delle convenzioni sociali e delle istituzioni tradizionali. Non solo voglia di libertà, ma anche necessità di sperimentare nuove dimensioni della realtà, soddisfatta anche con l’uso di droga. Sono così avvenute trasformazioni decisive, “rivoluzionarie”, soprattutto per quanto riguarda le nuove forme di espressione artistica. Negli anni ’60 cresce tanto anche l’interesse per “l’altro”, e questo interesse include ogni cultura diversa da quella occidentale, nella letteratura, religione, filosofia, cibo, musica ed espressioni artistiche. I movimenti degli anni sessanta hanno dato il via ad almeno una decade di libertà e trasgressione nell’arte, nella musica, nella moda, e nella cultura in generale. Adesso, a 50 anni di distanza, questa mostra, curata dagli studenti di Gallery and Exhibition Curating, espone i migliori lavori dei corsi di Fine Arts del semestre accademico, proponendo una critica approfondita di quel periodo, attraverso più punti di vista, cercando di ricreare l’atmosfera ai tempi di queste trasformazioni che hanno coinvolto l’interno mondo occidentale.
FINAL STUDENT EXHIBITION FALL 2017
1968
where all the flowers have gone? DEC 6 | FEB 27 2017 GANZO via dei Macci, 85/r Firenze Opening at 6:00 pm Wednesday Dec 6, 2017
The Florence University of the Arts’ student exhibition, 1968: Where Have all the Flowers Gone? Reflections on the 1960's Revolution, focuses on the global unrest and counterculture movements of this era. The year 1968 was a particularly triumphant and tragic year worldwide. There is no singular ideology of 1968; positions were as numerous as they were conflicting and there was a growing sense of unease across much of the Western world. The general public attitude at this time in history was a desire to change the status quo, oppose societal norms, and form an uprising against the “establishment.” Every group or party was at odds with one another, creating roundabout accusations of objectivity, fascism, capitalism, and bourgeois. Some of these ideas and ideologies are traceable, common mentalities directly correlating to the initiation of historic movements. In America, triumphs unfolded, such as an introduction of the first Boeing 747, orbiting the moon, and the movement behind Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. These ideas can be characterized not so much in terms of their common goals, but rather by their common enemies. A desire for freedom was expressed through the rejection of social conventions and traditional institutions. In addition, there was a desire to experience new dimensions of reality which was sought through the use of mind-altering substances. Underlying themes came forward which sparked interest among students and intellectuals in the Western world. In many parts of Europe and the United States, college students participated in tumultuous and often violent demonstrations. Anti-war and civil rights protests occurred across the US and Europe, including revolts at UC Berkeley, the Prague Spring, the May ‘68 events in France, and the clashes at Valle Giulia in Rome. Political and social strains were heavy surrounding these events, as exemplified by the assassinations of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy in the United States, and the peak of the Chinese Revolution in 1967 and 1968. These years were a time of decisive transformation in the Western world, however a general consensus amongst these “Revolutionaries” was the appreciation for new experiences and forms of expression. An interest in the “other” arose; this included unfamiliar cultures, their literature, religion, philosophies, unfamiliar food, and music and art as a whole, across the world. These movements led to the 70s, a decade of freedom and transgression in art, music, fashion, and culture in general, with iconic artists, bands and films such as Andy Warhol, Pink Floyd and A Clockwork Orange. Now, 50 years later, this exhibition of student artwork will provide a critical and indepth reflection on those years, from the viewpoint of individuals going through the same stage of life as those “revolutionaries” who transformed the Western world.
This exhibit was curated by the FUA Experiential Learning course Gallery Exhibition and Curating
ALEXANDRA GUBA | KATHERINE WEI PAULINE BODARD | ADELLE KINCEL | KELLY MCGOWAN | EMILY STATKUN | EMMA THOMAS Coordinated by Prof. Giovanni Rossiello
Florence University of the Arts
FLORENCE SKETCHBOOK SAS School of Art and Sciences
To participate in the artistic act, it is essential to understand how a culture takes place not only in its contemporaneity but also in relation to history. To do this, it is necessary to consider events and disciplines outside the restrictive artistic framework. I was not alive in the '60s, many of my students are not familiar with the song chosen as a symbol of those years so they felt a sense of fragmentation when they tried to immerse themselves in that historical context. It seems strange how the "where" of the song pushed the artistic research towards a geographical place rather than a historical exploration.
PARIDE MORETTI
STUDENT EXHIBITION FALL 2017
FLORENCE SKETCHBOOK
N a t a l i e Wa t t
Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania Allentown, New Jersey
Florentine Icon s
50x70 cm | Prints from free hand sketch on paper
The idea for these works were sparked by an assignment in my Sketch class to mix art in Florence into a Pop art image. For these pieces I was inspired by the work of Roy Lichtenstein and his comic book images. I saw dramatic facial expressions in both the pop art comic strips, and the Renaissance paintings and sculptures displayed in Florence and decided to combine them allowing both mediums of art to tell a story.
MIXED MEDIA SAS School of Art and Sciences
PARIDE MORETTI
STUDENT EXHIBITION FALL 2017
MIXED MEDIA
A ashna La ma
Kathmandu, Nepal Florence University of the Arts
Sound s of Freedom 110x75 cm | Mixed media
Sounds of freedom uses a physical play on concrete poetry by turning simple onomatopoeic words such as “boom” and “bang” and putting them on boxes, in a pop art style, in order to turn them into “boom boxes.” This piece highlights the sounds often heard during times of conflict, war and terrorism and turns it into a more playful, interactive form so that it becomes more friendly to viewers. As the 70’s was a time where there was much conflict, these boxes each represent a violent sound in order to symbolize the sheer magnitude of force it took in order to create these issues and movements. These movements were once revolutionary and because of the we can now experience and enjoy more freedom. The red with which each box is lined represents the blood that was shed by everyone involved in creating the free thinking and liberal society we live in today.
SAS School of Art and Sciences
MIXED MEDIA
S t e v e n F r a n k B a i l e y J r. Grand Rapids, Michigan Central Michigan University
Bloom
50x70 cm | Acrylic colors on paper We often find ourselves overwhelmed in the age of information, constantly bombarded by visual stimulation. This series strips away all the extra nonsense and unnecessary details to obtain a simple form. The colors of nature and flowers in bloom, as well as the changing culture of the 60’s inspired the creation of these paintings. A reflection of a time before the mass emergence of technology; when people elegantly went against the grain in a wave of bright colors, love, and peace.
I N T E R M E D I AT E | A D VA N C E D D R A W I N G SAS School of Art and Sciences
How can art be revolutionary today? I challenged my art students to imagine a new humankind, a sensitive and conscious one, a humankind who dares to turn inwards to its soul and discover its own freedom, to be ready to meet again with Nature. Advanced and Intermediate Drawing students tuned with the idea of creating an anatomical blending between human beings and the green realm: blossoms, flowers, plants, trees. Nature doesn’t surround us, Nature is in us, we are part of Nature. Week after week, both while experiencing abstract as well as figurative drawing, students worked to create a visual rebirth of a humankind, open to change through meeting peaceful green creatures. Each of the presented works preserves the energy of an individual challenge, research, and breakthrough, while offering a hopeful trace of the ongoing struggle for a renewal as faced by the humankind now.
NICOLETTA SALOMON
STUDENT EXHIBITION FALL 2017
INTERMEDIATE | ADVANCED DRAWING
Haylee Hickey
Pensacola, Florida The University of West Florida
One
50 x 70 cm | Graphite pencil on paper Have we become one or one against all? Pushing and pulling against one another forcing our exposure towards the surface of our world. Out from underneath, from beyond, what is known as our darkness.
SAS School of Art and Sciences
IWNOT RE YR M E D I A T E | A D V A N C E D D R A W I N G
Maeve McCa rt y Colorado Springs, CO University of Colorado Denver
Where Have All The Flowers Gone? 49 x69 cm | Chalk Pastel on paper
This drawing is a pure representation of the demand for nonviolence and peace in the world today. Pain is echoing throughout every land and righteousness, vengeance, and pride will only multiply it. There is an ongoing argument involving American versus Islam man and the terrors which have occurred from this feud, but the argument is obsolete. This piece intentionally chooses no one side; it merely demonstrates the suffering manifested from any and all acts of violence. Violence is not the answer; nonviolence is the indisputable entrance to world peace.
W O R D S , PA I N T I N G S A N D E M O T I O N S SAS School of Art and Sciences
HOW CAN ART BE REVOLUTIONARY TODAY? I challenged my art students to imagine a new humankind, a sensitive and conscious one, a humankind who dares turning inwards to its souls and discover its own freedom, to be ready to meet than again with Nature. Words, Painting, and Emotions students started their research by soaking into the wild of the American Abstract Expressionism. Step after step they got rid of established gestures in painting. They struggled to find a free, personal and uncontrived expression, they explored new, positive and peaceful ways for the human presence to be in the World; not by avoiding conflicts, first of all inner conflicts, but by understanding and accepting what is. Each of the presented works preserves the energy of an individual challenge, research, and breakthrough, while offering a hopeful trace of the ongoing struggle for a renewal as faced by humankind now.
NICOLETTA SALOMON
STUDENT EXHIBITION FALL 2017
WORDS, PAINTINGS AND EMOTIONS
k atherine Giorda no Stoneham, Massachusetts Endicott College
Confliction This series “Confliction" has granted me the opportunity to immerse myself in a foreign style and craft. Typically a realist, abstraction has liberated my mind and spirit on what I put on my paper. I focused heavily on my emotions and scattered thoughts, rather than a rigid process. I let my fingertips rather than my brush strokes dictate the application on the paper, which I found revolutionary to my new born style. I experimented with humanistic flesh tones, and dark blacks and blues as a representation of a person’s logical and emotional thought process. The battle between the two is represented throughout the piece in ways that clash but also blend seemingly together.
SAS School of Art and Sciences
W O R DY S , P A I N T I N G S A N D E M O T I O N S
April Herz Endicott College Harwinton, Connecticut
Bl o om i n g Won d e r 50 x 70 cm| Acrylic on paper
Focusing on the idea of revolution I began to explore what it meant to me through a series of lines and colors. I had trouble recognizing revolutionary work until I studied Jackson Pollock. He had a sudden transformation in his art technique that changed his career and my view on the process of abstract art. I began to move more freely just as he did with his dripping technique. Using primary colors, I made large movements within a small frame. The size of the brush strokes varies and helps to convey the revolution I was feeling within myself. I had a change of perspective for my abstract work and now I am able to let my emotions dance on the blank canvas in front of me.
SAS School of Art and Sciences
WORDS, PAINTINGS AND EMOTIONS
I s a b el Pel le g r i no Journalism The George Washington University
Re d O ve r Word s My series came from a need to deconstruct and rebuild my relationship with writing through painting. As a Journalism student, striving towards accurate expression of the surrounding world has been a critical aspect of my education. In the process of enhancing my observation and narrative skills, I began to feel the story beyond the text fade away from me. Through these paintings, I am striving to express the tension and limitations words often present me with, despite my love for them. I use watercolors, acrylics, and ink to bring together the permanency of words, the water shed of verbal expression and the vitality of color beyond its content. Neutral reds, yellows, blues, blacks, and browns over abstract shapes seem to connect
me with the frustration of formless ideas and dark thoughts. My handwriting runs over or beneath the colors; I want to be read but feel hesitant to share and so I hide. I am inspired by my classmates and their efforts and frustrations to express. I am inspired by Picassos lines, Bissier’s biomorphic shapes and dark colors, the scientific drawings of the Alchemists, and Grace Hartigan’s works. I am influenced by almost everyone around me. I want my paintings to speak of others and my struggle to connect.
SAS School of Art and Sciences
W O R DY S , P A I N T I N G S A N D E M O T I O N S
Ta y l o r S a u n d e r s Methuen, Ma Endicott College
Diar y of the Mind ’s Abyss 60 x 70 cm | Medium: Acrylic on paper
In our society we are encouraged not to let ourselves be too effected by our emotions, but to conceal them so that we do not disturb those around us. In this series, I challenge this mindset. I created a space in which I let myself be fully affected and allowed others to be a witness to my outcomes. This series has become a type of diary and safe space for the ever-shifting abyss that is the mind and emotions. As an artist, I have almost exclusively worked with figurative drawing. Working abstractly is a new and exhilarating task. As I worked on these paintings, I allowed myself to fully be immersed in color choice and in gesture; the sweeping tenderness of a soft blue or yellow, the mystery behind a deep purple or green, and the liveliness of a vivid red. My application of color and gesture has been highly influenced by William Baziotes. I have admired and adapted my own version of his rhythmic and dream-like paintings that seem to be directly connected to the subconscious. I also admire the way in which you can see the hand of Julius Bissier in his paintings through the integration of written word and line work. Each of my paintings in this series is completed through the addition of gestural line work done in black paint in order to achieve a similar, very personal touch, which complete my paintings.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ringraziamenti
FINAL STUDENT EXHIBITION FALL 2017
1968
where all the flowers have gone? DEC 6 | FEB 27 2017 GANZO via dei Macci, 85/r Firenze Opening at 6:00 pm Wednesday Dec 6, 2017 ALEXANDRA GUBA KATHERINE WEI
Gallery and Exhibition Curating Experiential Learning PAULINE BODARD ADELLE KINCEL KELLY MCGOWAN EMILY STATKUN EMMA THOMAS
Gallery and Exhibition Curating GIOVANNI ROSSIELLO Professor
Gallery Exhibition and Curating / EL NICOLETTA SALOMON Professor
Intermediate / Advanced Drawing Words, Paintings and Emotions PARIDE MORETTI Professor
Mixed Media Florence Sketchbook
Florence University of the Arts Spring 2017
FLORENCE UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS