Tag Archives: Contemporary art Firenze

L’arte sa nuotare

08 Saturday Jun 2019

Posted by in Art, Firenze, Italia, Photography

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Putto Raffaello Firenze street art BlubL’arte sa Nuotare -art knows how to swim- is a project by Italian street artist Blub (Bloob).  Anyone who has been to Firenze in the last few years has likely seen Blub’s work plastered onto the city’s sportelli di gas e di luce- the metallic doors of gas and electrical panels. Blub street art FirenzeI was recently in Firenze with my nipotina Isabella. We were constantly on the lookout for ‘Blubi’ (BLOO•bee).  It was like a scavenger hunt! We even spotted a few in Lucca, but none in Siena.  Blub street art Firenze Dante l'arte sa nuotareNo one has met mysterious street artist Blub.  All we know about Blub is that he…..or she….. is from Firenze and is a talented artist with a fun, quirky sense of humour.Blub street artist Firenze, the Creation of AdamBlub’s series “L’arte sa Nuotare’ takes famous works of art and gives them a new look, immersing them underwater, complete with blue background, snorkel masks and bollicine-bubbles! Blub street art La Dolce Vita Shannon Milar L'arte sa nuotare

More recent works receiving the Blub treatment are contemporary icons such as the kiss from La Dolce Vita, Freddie Mercury and Amy Winehouse.  Blubi have a magnetic attraction to anyone passing by. Blub Modigliani street art Lucca l'arte sa nuotareThe works are not graffiti painted directly onto the precious, crumbling renaissance walls. Blub paints 1 original acrylic on canvas or metal, then makes posters in sizes to fit the sportelli and pastes them up with 100% plant based glue. Sportelli also provide ready made frames.Ragazza con l'orecchina di perla Blub street artist Firenze, Girl with a pearl earring

How did this series start?  According to a February 2019 interview (in Italiano) with Firenze Urban Lifestyle Magazine, Blub claims that for fun, the first ‘masked’ triad were Da Vinci works-La Gioconda (aka Mona Lisa), Dama con l’ermellino, and a self portrait of Leonardo.  One night, with the help and encouragement of friends, they were pasted up on sportelli in the San Niccolò area. Blub Leonardo Da Vinci Donna con l'ermellino Firenze street art

It was originally a way of remembering the flood of the Arno in 1966 and the saving of Firenze’s priceless artwork from the muddy water that ravaged the city.  That night ‘l’arte non affoga’ (art does not drown) became ‘l’arte sa nuotare’.

Firenze Duomo Blub street artAside from the reference to the 1966 flood, the series brings together the past and contemporary world, pays tribute to the personality of Firenze and is dedicated to those who find solutions in a sea of difficulty. The expression ‘sink or swim’ comes to mind.Van Gogh Blub street art l'arte sa nuotare

Water generates life and is a symbol of rebirth and purification.  Time stands still underwater, placing the immersed works that have left their mark and survive today in another dimension.  With this series of work, Blub is trying to incite curiosity rather than controversy.

Blub street art firenze L'arte sa nuotareBlub hunting will now also be possible in Napoli!  Blub has 6 new works on display at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli until August 31!  Frescoes from Pompeii underwater!  I will definitely try to see this exhibit!  Update!  I did  make  it  to  Napoli.  Read  about  it  in  Blub  a Napoli. I hope you enjoyed this Blub photo exhibit! Have you had the pleasure of finding Blubi? If you like to view artwork al fresco and un po’ bagnato, happy Blub hunting!  More Blub images are available on instagram #lartesanuotare.

Ciao, Cristina

*La Dolce Vita photo taken by Shannon Milar in Lucca.  All other photos taken by me in Firenze, except the Amedeo Modigliani which was taken in Lucca.Putto Raffaello Blub street artist Firenze

 

La Grande Cacata

17 Wednesday Jan 2018

Posted by in Art history, Firenze, Italia

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As I entered Piazza della Signoria in November, I was surprised to see it occupied by a massive excremental aluminum sculpture. Big Clay #4 is the actual title of the 12 meter high work by Swiss artist Urs Fischer.

The sculpture is actually an enlargement of pieces of clay that the artist modeled with his hands.  He took 5 small pieces of clay and squished them around in his hands, then piled them up.  Then it was ‘supersized’ to 12 meters high.  The artist’s fingerprints and palm creases that were impressed onto the surface of the clay were also reproduced. An interesting idea…. too bad it came out looking like poo.

The installation of this sculpture is not a successful pairing of contemporary and Renaissance/Classic art. If I sound like a harsh art critic, let me say that I am not one of those people who just dislikes contemporary art.  In fact, one of my favourite musei in Firenze is the Museo Marino Marini, housed in the deconsecrated ancient church of San Pancrazio. Marini’s 20th Century sculptures are elegant and classic and his melding of the historical and the contemporary is extremely successful.

In my determined quest to find a positive angle on this work, I looked at the photo below and wondered if the artist was trying to (unsuccessfully) mimic the spiraling vortex of Giambologna’s Ratto delle Sabine.  This is not the case, since I found out the sculpture was not made for this site.  It was previously displayed outside of the Seagram Building in Manhattan, where it was known as the ‘Big Turd’.

The work is supposed to be thought provoking.  The only thought that came to me was ‘Now I know what it would it look like if a brontosaurus took a big dump in the middle of Piazza della Signoria!’ The sculpture is up until January 21st, so you only have  4 more days to see it here.  My title may sound a bit harsh, but many other colourful, scatologically oriented comments were heard in the piazza and around Firenze. I don’t think many Fiorentini will be sad to see it go!

Ciao, Cristina