C R E AT I V E
Andy Wa r h o l
New
BRUNO SPIEZIA
Index
ANDY WARHOL P.11
IL MOCASSINO TOD’S P.48
ROBERTO CAVALLI And colour. P.21
HOLI FESTIVAL P.51
COLLEZIONE LUSH EMOTIONAL BRILLIANCE The colors that reflect our soul. P.24
BRUNO SPIEZIA P.55
TERRY O’NEILL P.27
www.harim.it
Andy Warhol 18th April/28th Septembre 2014 Roma Museo foundation, Palazzo Cipolla By Angelica Grittani Luisa Attardo
11
A
fter the stop in Milan, the exhibition that celebrates Andy Warhol arrives in Rome at the Museo Palazzo Cipolla with his most famous works. There are 150 masterpieces coming directly from “The Brant Foundation,” the foundation chaired by Peter Brant, Warhol’s friend and well-known collector, the same with whom Andy Warhol created Interview Magazine.
His creativity appeared on everything he did. He was a window dresser, graphic, designer , painter, sculptor, filmmaker, screenwriter, producer. Warhol was able to create a provocative art which captured the attention especially for its being accessible to everyone. Fascinated by the fashion and glamour of the world of film and entertainment, his art focused on the portraits of various characters such as Liz Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, Greta Garbo , Diane Von Furstenberg, John Lennon and Mao Tse-Tung, (even Uncle Sam, Santa Claus and Mickey Mouse were among his favorite subjects). Each of these portraits is a silk screen printing, namely a copy of a photograph on which Warhol applied colors in a different way. Therefore, he created serial reproductions from the original image. It’s just the color to give an emotional value to his work, making the picture less repetitive and more personal.
The best-known work is with Marilyn Monroe, a portrait of the most adored and, at the same time, the target of great interest for his untimely death. Warhol depicts her in Technicolor, and the vivid color seems to emphasize the different unconscious moods of the actress. Conversely, the serial reproduction offers us an insight into the culture and society of that period. It seemed to repeat itself endlessly as in an assembly line. Behind a colored façade there were the fears and concerns of a different reality from the one the television and newspapers showed. Warhol was attracted to mass production, to the products everyone used, with no distinction between social classes. So he had the idea to reproduce the reality in which he lived into his works, essentially by reproducing what he saw (Brillo, Campbell’s Soup, Coca-Cola, Dollars), and being able to transform even a simple can of soup into art. Among other works, there is also an unattainable icon such as La Gioconda by Leonardo da Vinci. Warhol reproduced it in a series of thirty reproductions because “Thirty is better than one” as the work explains. The author wants to play on the unique value of the work and wants to offer the public a more altered view as well as a strong visual impact which makes you think about the essence of art and the message that the author wants to represent and convey. The collaboration with Nico and The Velvet Underground, for whom he designed the album cover with the famous peelable banana, will associate him to the great musician Lou Reed, in the collective imagination. His most famous images are part of the art scene and recognized by everyone because even a child would be able to see the enthusiastic as well as consumerist spirit of his works. Warhol is an artist who knew how to make his life a work of art, becoming soon a ‘”pop icon” while his style is recognized all over the world. “In the future everyone will be worldfamous for 15 minutes”, is one of Warhol’s most famous phrases; maybe, he already figured out the power of mass media, the endless possibilities of internet and social networks where everybody has the visibility he wants by publishing, if you want, hundreds of selfies without ever getting tired.
Cavalli Roberto Cavalli
and Color .
By Cristina Giannini
C
Luisa Attardo
olor is one of the biggest sources of inspiration for a collection of fashion: a simple tone or shade can give rise to a whole line and Roberto Cavalli is an example of it. His book “Black is never absolute”, was published in 2010 on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the designer début. It is a four hundred pages volume which pays homage to color, nature and fun, telling through photographs the feelings and emotions that the Florentine designer took through the lens. This is a passion he has always had and that wanted to reveal to the public only recently. He has the purpose of showing that the little things, to which we sometimes do not pay attention, may actually be a unique beauty, like an open tomato inside which a nuanced cross seems to be depicted. It is a universe of objects, symbols, landscapes, photographed during years of relentless curiosity, as the designer says: “ I love everything and I’m interested in everything. Flowers, fruits, animals, skies, seas, meadows, women, children, skyscrapers, cars, candies, buttons. There is no limit. The most common object can remind me of distant memories and become a source of inspiration for a collection or for a simple detail of a dress.” The book is a diary that gives you access to the creative paths that have lead to the realization of countless prints for his collections. The subjects are a lot, the details are infinite, and this is not just a book, but the world seen through Roberto Cavalli’s eyes, through the images from which he draws inspiration.
21
24
LUSH Emotional Brilliance collection the colours that reveal our soul By Serena Secco Mattia Vismara
T
he colours we wear are able to tell the world how we feel, whether we started the day full of joy and vitality or in the wrong way. LUSH must have been thinking of this before creating its new makeup line: Emotional Brilliance. It is made of three categories of products: Skin, Eyes and Lips. Even though it has been launched not long ago, the makeup addicted from all over the world have already had the opportunity to test the innovation of this collection. The most inviting section is dedicated to the eyes: every colour of it, some splendid vibrating colours and some metalic ones, can be used as eyeliner, mascara or cream eye shadow. This is possible thanks to the three different applicators that are included in the product when you buy it: at last we have the multitasking product every woman dreams about! Every single colour of this collection also has a specific name, different from the ones that are usually given to eye shadows. These names specify some moods, for example: “Determination”, an intense purple, “Motivation”, a splendid metallic petrol blue, “Success”, a shiny silver. The clerks in the shops suggest not to choose the colour that better fits with your skin, but the one that fits the best with feelings, needs and wishes. Mark Constantine, LUSH co-founder said about this cosmetics: “You choose the color that represents a word. […]It’s what makes it so revolutionary because it’s actually conveying someone’s need. Instead of fashion, commerce, social norm, celebrity which are all different ways of looking at putting on a color.” Above all that, the brand uses fruits, fresh vegetables and exclusively vegetal ingredients non tested on animals.
Terry O’Neill POP ICONS
18 Aprile/28 Settembre 2014 Fondazione Roma Museo, Palazzo Cipolla By Angelica Grittani
Luisa Attardo
27
Terry O’Neill
T
he Museo Fondazione Roma, Palazzo Cipolla includes the works of the great Terry O’Neill with a retrospective entitled Terry O’Neill. Pop Icons. About fifty shots selected among the thousands of photographs taken by O’Neill over the years and having his favorite subjects such as politicians, singers, actors and athletes. The popularity of certain personality has drove Terry O’Neill to strike up an almost intimate relationship, which portrayed VIPs naturally and with indiscretion, during public moments as well as their private life.
Born in London in 1938, Terry O’Neill began working as a photographer for an airline company, for which he was charged with taking pictures to travelers arriving at Heathrow Airport. I happened to snapped a picture, without realizing it, to the interior minister who was sleeping in the waiting room; the photo was a scandal and appeared in all newspapers. The following years, the fabulous sixties in the Swinging London, opened the doors to a scenario of celebrities and faces to be captured on his 35 mm film. In 1959, for an important British magazine, Daily Sketch, he had the opportunity to take the first photograph of Beatles published on a newspaper and portraying the Fab Four in their Abbey Road Studio. The world of rock seemed to accept the presence on the scenes of the British photographer, who appeared on stage and backstage, in order to portray the most famous groups and singers’ life such as The Rolling Stones, The Who, Eric Clapton, Elton John and David Bowie . According to what Keith Richards states, one of the rock icons portrayed by Terry O’Neill, “Terry was everywhere in the 60s – he knew everyone and everything that was happening around.” He collaborates with the major magazines such as Vogue, Life, Rolling Stones, Look, and Paris Match. But his reputation as a photographer of stars will be definitely consecrated after his arrival in Hollywood, when he joined the silver screen and began an affair with the actress Faye Dunaway with whom he married in 1983. She is the same actress who in 1977 won an Oscar for her performance in the film “Fifth power” and whom O’Neill immortalized in a historic photo: the morning after the Oscars ceremony, while Faye was in a discomposed and almost dreamy posture, heedless of the photographer’s lens, she is enjoying her breakfast with a lot of newspapers carelessly scattered on the table and the Oscar next to her tea peeps out. Touché! Among other movie stars with a prominent role are Brigitte Bardot, Audrey Hepburn, Steve McQueen, Roger Moore, Sean Connery and Frank Sinatra whom O’Neill portrays during several occasions: they are just a few of the icons of the cinema that he photographed in his shots.
The reportage that this photographer has done in the last decades, showing the lifestyle of modern society, has led to an open-minded public towards music, cinema, but also politics (as the photo of Winston Churchill shows) and prominent characters such as the English Royal Family, not usually portrayed for reasons not related to official events. What appears about these people is not the cover, the most prominent aspect of their public profile, but a hidden character; we discover the “behind the scenes� that we could not access and even a more human and accessible side of the much loved stars. In 2011, O ‘Neill was awarded by the Royal Photographic Society of a Merit Badge for his important contribution to the art of photography and organized a world photo contest which attracts aspiring professionals of all ages every year.
The mocassin
S The moccasin by Tod’ s the shoe that never gets old By Gaia Bregalanti Mattia Vismara
48
ober and elegant luxury and ultrahigh quality, these are the traits which have always identified the Tod’s brand. Their most famous article is the moccasin, later revisited into the loafer. The birth of the moccasin hails from the American Indians: they sewed one piece of leather that totally wrapped the foot. The word moccasin means “footwear” in their language. The idea of re-interpreting this typical shoe came to Diego Della Valle at the end of the 70s, when he realized that there was not any luxury shoe to wear during the whole day with an elegant dress as well as with a casual suit. So the loafer was born, now renowned all over the world, with the sole made of 133 rubber spheres, called “Gommino”. Produced with extreme care, it is entirely hand-made with high quality materials. Every step in the creation of a Tod’s product is a wonder of craftsmanship. From the leather cut to the seam of the product: everything is handcrafted. The famous “Gommino” by Tod’sbrought back to its splendor by the stars, has begun to peer out in everyday life. This icon shoe is produced in a lot of colours and different fabrics: from leather to suede to, for example, python skin. Depending on their mood, people have a vast choice, from classic dark colours as black, grey or brown to bright colours like red, shocking pink or lime yellow. The loafer is considered as a passepartout shoe, which people can wear with an elegant dress or a more sportive look. Many other brands reproduced the classic loafer, such as Gucci and Fratelli Rossetti, in any case the loafer will give that sportive but sophisticated touch to the outfit of whoever will wear it.
H
Holi festival Holi Festival AN EXPLOSION OF COLOURS By Rossella Scalzo Selena Magni
C
olours can wake both personal and social feelings, they stand in fact as generally accepted symbols. Red is linked to passion, yellow to the sun and to life, blue to something endless like the universe. This phenomenon changes according to the social context: white, for example, in some culture is linked to purity while in some others to death. In the oriental culture, colours have a strong symbolic meaning, they are considered as exciting. In India, one of the most awaited celebrations of the year is the Holi Festival, also known as feast of the colours. It usually held in the villages and squares of Southern Asia. It is an Hindu celebration that is celebrated in other parts of the world, too. It celebrates the end of the winter and the coming of the spring in the last full moon day of the month Phalguna, which recurs between February and March, depending on the year. Many are the meanings of this celebration, among which there is good luck for the new harvest and a fertile soil, as well as the end of the evil feelings collected during the year.
According to the tradition, fires are lit during the full moon night and thousands of people from all over the country gather together to dance and sing around them. The word “Holi”, which literally means “burn”, defines the act of burning the evil spirits, burnt down in the fires. The real show comes the following day, when the people with coloured faces gather together to throw in the air the “gulal”, the scented and coloured powders. The Holi Festival is also the celebration of love for the Hindu mythology. The god Krishna, who had a dark skin, envious of the white skin of his wife Radha, one day decided to paint her face with colours. The envy for the white skin colours is therefore called love and this is why people paint their face before throwing the powders. The moment in which people toss the powders in the air all together is unique and exciting and by the end of the day, everything looks like a painted canvas. The tradition wants the powders to be made of washable vegetal pigments, like turmeric, neem, and dhak but nowadays there also six commercial water-based pigments, easy to wash.
51
An edition of the Holi Festival is held in several Italian cities every summer. This year’s editions for Rome and Milan are scheduled for June the 14th and July the 19th. For further information check the website: http://holifestival.com/it/it/index
Bruno Spiezia By Valentina Sorrenti
Luisa Attardo
55
B r u n o
S p i e z i a
Bruno Spiezia PHOTOGRAPHER
W
e met Bruno Spiezia, a professional photographer who lives in Rome and who likes to observe the human kind and to grasp the individual features distinguishing us as people. For Bruno, a portrait painter and lover of black and white, the purpose of a beautiful portrait is the intelligent representation of a person’s sensitivity. A good photographer is someone who likes discovering new issues both social and cultural, and he is ready to study the subject in front of him.
When did your passion for photography start? My passion for photography started when I was still a teenager. At the age of 14 I was very fascinated by some pictures taken by an uncle who was abroad during the war period. They were great pictures, which I still jealously treasure. I think that my interest was born from that curiosity of discovering what was behind that world, and going beyond those images. A mental and emotional process run wild inside of me and led me to investigate why I was fascinated by photography as well as to inform about the necessary knowledge to become a skilled photographer. How much emotional aspect is there in your photographs? Photography is not only related to the technical aspect, but is also a way of telling the world through our eyes which are connected in any way to our emotions, to what we see. Beyond the subject that we are going to take, this aspect is almost always in every picture, especially in the photo of reportage authors who are able to convey an emotion or recall a memory through an image. We can transfer everything we see onto an image which becomes accessible to everyone. The tool is not as fundamental as one might think, because you can convey an emotion even if there are some flaws which lose their importance in front of an impacting photo.
Is it true that the technique is essential to learn how to shoot ? Knowing how the tool we are going to handle works, is definitely important. The tool can be a particular camera. It is like driving a car: once we feel confident we gain more confidence. From that moment, the emotion and our photo instinct come into play. We can learn the technique and the focus but nobody teaches us about the subject to be portrayed and the way we approach to lens. It is an innate sensitivity in the one that shoots. The technique is useful to give a job set-up, but then we need to work on our “ photographic eye “ by putting into practice our feelings and the instinct which drives us to look for the best shot. The photographer’s ability of conveying emotions onto the image is due to the attention to particular social or environmental issues, or to the beauty and aesthetics taste. However, his goal is achieved when the message arrives to the viewer when, observing a certain image, he will see through the photographer’s eyes, will feel the same emotions and will read between the lines what he wanted to convey by a click. The technique, therefore, cannot be the only thing that brings the photographer , or even the beginner, to make a nice picture in terms of quality and expressiveness .
As a portraitist , what are the key features to get a good portrait? In my opinion, the portrait is the most complex type of photography among other type of photo, not only for the technical aspect and composition, but for the human relationship; so, the photographer must also be a little bit a psychologist , trying to guess the personality in front of him and showing it through his lens . The most credible uncertainty is to capture the essence of the subject, which flows from his state of mind at that precise moment, but there are many variables that could alter the success of a portrait. The important thing is being able to show a person as he really is. The person in front of the photographer’s lens often feels vulnerable and laid bare: a skilled portraitist will try to put the person at ease, by focusing not only on his appearance but also on his character. The photographer will overcome these difficulties through the attitude and the dialogue, overcoming even the barriers that separate him from the subject. He will show us what he sees on that person , or better what the subject allows him to see, making himself available. That magic is created in an indefinite time, over a period of time necessary for the dialogue between the photographer and the subject, and it can take ten minutes or two days. What are the photographers that you admire the most? I would mention my colleague Tony Thorimbert who, this year along with another great photographer Giovanni Gastel, presented some pictures in the exhibition entitled “Double Game”, in Rome. I admire Tony as a portraitist. We met in a workshop where during a portrait technique exhibition which first of all assumes of being in tune with the subject you want to photograph. Tony is a expert in this field, and is known for being able to find the right shot first time, “one shot”. The first photo is the best, the most truthful. Another photographer that I admire very much is Cavassa Marina, a woman whom I pictured in a photo where she recognized herself. I also really like Maurizio Galimberti and Massimo Siracusa.
Do you prefer black and white or color photos? The color like National Geographic teaches us and which has made a collection and its distinguishing feature, represents the world we see through our eyes. There are several color shades, stronger colors and more subtle, the pastel ones, showing the different intensity of an image. In my portraits, I like to play with color, I mean like an interior color of a person, trying to create a shared status that represents his path to that point. The absence of color instead , the black and white , makes the image more ethereal. This way the observer’s eye focuses much more on the expression , on the position of the subject’s body , on a detail of the photo, just because the absence of color leads us to find other elements where to focus on . I think, the black and white is a mix of glamour, elegance offering the opportunity to focus on the facial expressions or on the details of photographic composition. Conversely, the color if used properly allows you to take beautiful and complete pictures as well, while the eye perceiving more information than the black and white. A great author and photographer of black and white is undoubtly Gianni Berengo Gardin, who has made the black and white his stylistic signature. He is an absolute artist in this field. How can the color convey emotions? In 2007 I presented some portraits in an exhibition called “Nude Sensuality “: they were naked woman with flashes of color on the body, it was not a body-painting, but rather a superposition of images. Through this fusion we perceive the sense of the image, that is, to express the woman through a rainbow of colors.
The woman, from her birth, to adolescence and throughout her life changes her color, also according to emotions, attractive appearance towards others or changes that she experiences during her life. The woman is a set of colors expressing not only her beauty , the female body, but all those emotions that do not go unnoticed , and which are part of being a woman. In this case, colors represent a state of mind, an abstract conception of something deeper. However , the color has a huge impact on our eyes : even though we are accustomed to seeing the world in colors representing something nice for us, we will feel happy; conversely, a color that we do not like will convey negativity. The color has always been an important element to communicate moods : I think about tribal cultures , where women in the wedding rites were embellished with a little bit of color, or about tribes that were used to cover their body with colors and signs representing strength, before going to war. For this month’s Vain you have created a photo reportage of Street Art in the streets of Rome. In your opinion, what do young people want to convey through the murals? I think it’s certainly a way to distinguish themselves, but also to tell by a nontraditional painting , done on the facade of a building , or on a particular wall. What wonders me positively is that there are very good artists, but they are not valued. This art is not seen as a way that young people have found to express themselves and create amazing murals, but it is considered to be a marginal form of art. Redeveloping run-down areas and making them live again thanks to young people vision and to the possibility of painting on the walls might be a nice way, like in many cities happens.
It is a very democratic art, open to everybody, just to offer the opportunity even to those who cannot afford to organize an exhibition and thus to expose their works, to realize their desires and demonstrate their creative abilities. What advice would you give to young people who want to become photographers? My first advice is to start from a technical basis: with digital cameras often we underestimate the need to learn how to take pictures and anyone can improvise. Moreover, you should try to figure out what you want to photograph, to which subject you are more likely to photograph: it can be nature, portraits, still-life, fashion, architecture. Being humble is very important, to not to feel as if you’ve been successful when you get a great shot. The photography is continued growth, always trying to confront with others’ opinions and to interpret what others see in your photos. The images are as the mirror of the artist, it is better to face this world by being themselves and being open to dialogue with your interlocutor.
Creativity Colours arouse emotions and represent feelings. The experience of colours is personal and creates a subjective vibration. The symbolism of colours, in the various cultural and social contexts can have different meanings.
Selena Magni
“Colour is power that directly influences the soul. Colour is the key, the eye is the hammer that strikes, the soul is the instrument with a thousands strings.� Vasilij Kandinskij A world without colours would be impossible to imagine. Colours fill our life with nuances, arousing feelings and sensations. This perception varies from person to person just like it can vary according to the moment or the event to which a certain colour is linked. There is also a symbolism of colours, which gives to each colour a different meaning that varies from culture to culture. Colours can have different meanings according to the social context, which gives them a certain meaning generally shared by the whole culture to which it belongs. What is universally known is that colours can convey emotions and sensations.
All rights reserved to Vain Magazines