News - March 5, 2010

Workshop for SUF painting students leads to project display in exhibition at La Strozzina

The artist Marc Breslin, currently showing in the exhibition “Gerhard Richter and the Disappearance of the Image in Contemporary Art" at La Strozzina in Florence, recently invited SUF painting students to a private workshop held at La Strozzina during the installation of this prestigious exhibit.

During the workshop, Breslin reviewed works by Gerhard Richter and Nancy Spero, discussing how artists today address images of violence and mediated experience. After he showed three pieces of his own: In Memory of Tiananmen Square, Piling, and A Family Portrait in Color. This formed the foundation of a discussion about the artist’s experience and decision-making process in the studio. Students were encouraged to discuss openly and share their own thoughts and reflections as young artists today.

The workshop continued with a 'performance' by the students following instructions by Breslin. Four blank canvases were stapled to the wall. Each student was given a random number, some basic paint materials, medium and brushes. In accordance to their number, each student had two minutes to paint on the canvas anything they wished: to either act, react, destroy or transform the work in the two minutes given. The process cycled several times as each student worked on the four canvases sequentially and repeatedly.

The resulting work was then shown at the opening for the exhibition the following night.  

Breslin has offered to put the four canvases in SUF studios to be worked on by students throughout the rest of the semester. Students will continue working on them and then SUF will return the work to him.

For more information on the exhibit check out: http://www.strozzina.org/e_index.htm


Upcoming SUF Events

"Informal Networks"
Cecil Balmond, Structural Engineer, OVE ARUP, London
March 24, 2010
5pm – Salone Brunelleschi, Istituto degli Innocenti, Piazza SS Annunziata, Florence

Cecil Balmond, one of the world's most exceptional structural engineers and deputy Chairman of the Ove Arup Group in London, is best known for his inventive approach toward creatively applied mathematical formulas and art, which ultimately challenge the boundaries of architecture and structural engineering.

"Fascism: Past and Present"
Andrea Mammone
Kingston University London
Sponsored by Matteo Duni, Associate Professor, SUF
Monday, March 29, 2010

This lecture will briefly analyze the genesis and developments of fascism in inter-war Europe. It will then discuss the evolution of the extreme/radical right since 1945. With examples from contemporary Italy, France, England and the U.S., it will raise some doubts as to whether the contemporary extreme/radical right should be perceived as something particularly novel.
In this lecture, the idea of the existence of an alleged new “national populism” in Western Europe and the U.S. will be discussed, and challenged, showing that such parties still manifest fascist, xenophobic
and undemocratic tendencies.

All lectures, unless otherwise specified, will be held at 6:20pm, in room 13 of the Villa Rossa.