80's in Italy

Giovana Granchi Julia Sunyoto

80’s

i n I t al y A r t w o r k : Te s t a c o s m i c a s o l e n n e , 19 8 7 - N i c o l a d e M a r i a

Summary 2

The context

4

Artistic Movements

Political, economical and social.

Transvangarde and Photography.

15

Literature and Press

17

Fashion

Magazine and book.

Brands, Designers and Fashion Icons.

25

Enternaiment

28

Architecture and Design

32

Conclusions

33

Movies and Music.

The Memphis Group, Ettone Sottsass, Vico Magistrati and Gae Aulenti.

General considerations

Sources

~1~

The Context

Image: CNN Documentary: Cold war

~2~

The world • The world saw the collapse of traditional communism in the Western world and the end of the cold war. The biggest symbol of the end of the fragmented world is the fall of the Berlin wall • The rise of neoliberal demands • Impact of domestic computers that became part of the people’s life.

(IBM, Apple) • Famine in Ethiopia, what made many artists play together to raise money and awareness for this cause.

• AIDS virus was identified in the USA.

Italy

• The 80’s in Italy was a time of fun, excess, luxury, and optimism.

• Economic growth and industrialization in the country, that before had an agricultural oriented economy.

• While Italians live a fun and optimistic life on the surface, the political tensions never went away. Many governments fail as the guide of the country.

• Milan affirmed itself as the social, economic and artistical capital of Italy. Designers and art galleries fixed their addresses in the city.

• The prestigious ‘Made in Italy” got more and more attention abroad.

• Italy is more open than ever to foreign influxes. This is evident in music and television.

~3~

Artwork: Water Bearer, 1981- Sandro Chia

The Artistic Movement

“After years of collectivism, the art in the 80’s represents the intention of this new generation to rediscover its strengths as individuals.” Artribuni, Italy.

Transvanguardia

Transvanguardia was an Italian artistic movement, that has as the main characteristics: the come back to the figurative style, the emphasis in the human figures, the expression of irony or denunce and the presence of strong colors.

The artists seek to recover the most diverse types of techniques, forms and influences from the past, creating then an eccletic style.

This artistic trend must be understood as a part of the neo-expressionist movement and as one of the most significative movements for the postmodern art, in Italy, consecrated in Venice in 1980.

Achille Bonito Oliva, an art critic of the period was the responsible to include “Transvanguardia” in the artistic vocabulary, theorizing the theme in his book: “La Transavanguardia Italiana”.

The most important artists in this period were: Francesco Clemente, Mimmo Palladino, Enzo Cucchi, Sandro Chia e Nicola de Maria.

In the US at the same period, Julian Schnabel, Robert Longo, and Jonathan Borofsky can be mentioned as the most important names of neo-expressionism movement.

In Germany, Baselitz and Kiefer are the ones that affirm the neo-expressionist style inspired by the memories of war and the marks left by the nazism.

~5~

The Artists Francesco Clemente “My goal is to collect images and references from these traditions and connect them with the emotions from the present-day, and common experiences.” Francesco Clemente.

Francesco Clement is a contemporary Italian artist born on March 23, 1952.

In 1970 he studied architecture at the University of Rome, before moving to India three years later. During his period living in India, he collaborated with local craftsman and painters, while also studying Hindu spiritual texts.

In 1981 Clemente moves to New York City and began collaborating with Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, and Allen Ginsberg. He stills living and working in the city today.

The artist’s works are held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Kunstmuseum Basel, and the Tate Gallery in London, among others.

His artworks are known for dreamlike paintings based on esoteric themes of sexuality and spirituality. He worked with a formal experimentation with symbols, portraiture, and the human figure.

His mainly work techniques are oil painting, installation, and watercolor techniques.

~6~

Artwork: Priapea, 1980- Francesco Clement Mimmo Palladino  Is an Italian sculptor, painter, and muralist and one of the most important names of the period, developing the Transavanguardia movement.

Born on December 18, 1948, he attended the Liceo Artistico of Benevento.

His work is well-known to bring emotion, figuration, and mysticism back into avant-garde art. One of his most famous artwork is Cordoba (1984), where are portrayed two semi-abstracted figures tussling in a courtyard.

In 1980 his artworks were showed in Venice Biennale, for a transavangarde specific exhibition and also in other two individual exhibitions in New York City.

Paladino has collaborated on many sounds and visual art pieces with Brian Eno and Dormienti.

Nowadays, he lives in Roma and his works are shown worldwide, including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington. D.C. and the Tate Modern in London.

~7~

Artwork: Cordoba, 1984- Mimmo Paladino Enzo Cucchi

Is an italian painter and writer, born on 14 November, 1949.

Enzo played an important role in the Transavanguardia movement and went on to befriend other artists of the Transavanguardia movement he met in Rome, such as Francesco Clemente, Sandro Chia, and Mimmo Paladino His artwork are known for large-scale oil paintings, with a primitive style, in vivid and dramatic colors. As a writer he often exhibits his work along with poetic verses he himself has composed.

Today he still living in Rome and his work has been exhibited around the world including The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate in London, and the Art Institute of Chicago. His first retrospective was held at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City in 1986.

~8~

Artwork: Musica Ebbra , 1982- Enzo Cucchi Sandro Chia “My task and my mission […] are to try to reanimate the body of the stretched canvas in front of me, as if it was a symbolic white whale found on a beach.”

Sandro Chia.

Is an Italian paintor and sculptor born on April 20, 1946. His work is characterized by loosely figurative style emphasizing form and color. He uses strong brushstrokes and violent gestures with charcoal and oils in a large canvas. His source of inspiration are subjects range from the everyday to the classical tradition embedded in Italian history.

~9~

Artwork: Courageous Boys at Work, 1981- Sandro Chia Nicola De Maria “A true work of art should increase our vitality. And the door to succeeding in this intent is emotion, commotion.” Nicola de Maria

is a contemporary Italian artist born on Born on December 6, 1954.

The strongest features of his artwork is the abstract images and the bright colors painted in large-scale compositions, many times on multiple walls.

This artist was recognized and acclaimed his work exhibited at three Venice Biennales as well as documenta 7 in Kassel.

De Maria still working today and are based in Sannio, Italy.

His artworks are in the collections of the Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea in Turin and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

~ 10 ~

Artwork: Regno dei fiori - 1985- Nicola De Maria -~ 11 ~

Photography: Valentino,1988- Herb Britts

Photography

Photography: Madonna True Blue album cover, 1986 Herb Ritts

Herb Ritts was an American photographer born in Los Angeles in 1952. He became a photographer almost by accident when a picture that he took of his friend Richard Gere during a trip was published in several magazines, before that the photography was only a hobby.

His work is known for his celebrity portraiture and evocative nudes from the 1980s and 1990s that contributed to the glamorous image of these years.

He was one of the most appreciated photographers of the decade, working for prestigious Italian brand’s campaigns such as Versace, Armani, and Valentino.

Ritts also produced several also directed iconic music videos for musicians such as Madonna, Janet Jackson, and Chris Isaak.

~ 13 ~

Photography: 1984, all the colours in the world Benetton campaign- Oliviero Toscani Oliviero Toscani “There are no shocking pictures, only shocking reality”, Oliviero Toscani.

Is an Italian photographer, born on February 18, 1942.

He was responsible for Benetton’s campaigns between the ’80s and 00’s, that was also one vehicle to express his vision. He portrayed subjects ranging from dying AIDS patients to death row inmates.

Toscani was several times linked with controversies, then in 2002 not resisting the pressure, Benetton removed him from the post.

He completed 76 years in 2018, and are still remembered as an iconoclast of the 80’s and for his neorealist style.

~ 14 ~

Computer Club- December 1982

Literature and Press

The 80’s were the beginning of the Science Fiction Age. The works explore the characteristics of society and expose them in exaggerated situations. The 80’s were also the return to “proper morals” so many works containing promiscuity were criticized.

The Commodore Computer Club: • An Italian magazine about Commodore computers, complete with early-’80s models hanging around with computers.

Book: The name of the Rose The name of the Rose This italian murder mystery is set in an italian monastery in 1327. It explores biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory. In the novel, a friar arrives at a monastery in Northern Italy that is disturbed by a suicide.

After their arrival, the monastery experiences several other deaths. Friar William is appointed to a labyrinthine investigation to uncover the clues. He encounters the Inquisition and a movement started in the 13th century, the Waldensians. It was published Il nome della rosa in 1980, and was translated

by William Weaver and published in America in 1983.

~ 16 ~

Campaign: Gianni Versace, Fall 1981.

Fashion

Italian Fashion in the 80’s

Italy is one of the leading countries in fashion design, alongside others such as France, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Fashion has always been an important part of the country’s cultural life and society, and Italians are well known for their attention of dressing-up well; “la bella figura”, or good impression, remains traditional. Yet in the 80s , italian fashion became more simple and more into ready to wear.

Brands Bennetton

A global fashion brand based in Ponzano, Italy. The names are from the Benetton family. This brand company was founded in the year 1965. The company is known for sponsorship of a number of sports, and for the provocative and original “United Colours” publicity campaign. The latter originated when photographer Oliviero Toscani was given carte blanche by the Benetton management. Under Toscani’s direction, ads were created that contained striking images unrelated to any actual products being sold by the company.

~ 18 ~

Campaign: 1980s United Colors of Benetton.

Fiorucci • Founded inn 197 by Elio Fiorucci who was born in 1935.

• The brand is all about fun, it was the pop culture in the 80s.

• Elio the designer is the first who invent stretch denim and it becomes so popular in the 80s.

• In the 80s, for the 15th anniversary of Fiorucci, Elio invited his favorite singer Madonna to sing for the party • Fiorucci also teaming up with the Italian sticker company to create over 200 different stickers designs, all by previously undiscovered artist and graphic designers.

• It exposed Milan for the first time in the 80s to the styles of swinging London and American classics “ the t-shirts and the jeans”.

~ 19 ~

Elio Fiorucci

Madonna and dancer’s. Fiorucci’s 15th anniversary

Designers Giorgio Armani

• Giorgio Armani was born in 1934, in Piacenza, Italy • His brand was found in july 1975 • In the 80s, He reached his big splash globally. His clothes were worn by Richard Gere in the movie “American Gigolo”.

• In the 80s, wearing Armani is like a symbol of success for many business professionals.

• 1985: Suffered from terrible personal problems, losing his closest and co-CEO friend to AIDS. • 1989: he got suspended for bribing Italian tax officers, and was suspended in 1996.

~ 20 ~

Giorgio Armani

American Gigolo movie

Versace • Owned by Gianni Versace • Born in 1946 in Reggio di Calabria, Italy.

• First clothing line launched in Milan, Italy in 1978.

• 1989: The debut of Versace couture collection.

• Have been designing for high profile artist and royalty like Madonna, Princess Diana, Elton John, and Tina Turner.

• Died on July 15, 1997, in Miami.

~ 21 ~

Gianni Versace

Brooke Shields for Gianni Versace, AW80

Gianfranco Ferre • Italian fashion designer born in 1944, in Legion, Italy.

• He is known as the architect of fashion design, because of his architectural major background before he enters fashion.

• He launched his women RTW collection in 1978 and men’s RTW in 1982.

In 1986, he launched his first haute couture collection in Rome.

• In 1989, Bernard Arnault, chairman of the LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey) Group, invited Ferré to become the new artistic director of French Maison Christian Dior, for the women’s lines of Haute Couture, prêt-à porter, and Fourrure. Ferré took the place of Marc Bohan. he brilliantly restyled the Dior look, relaunching their 1950s classics. His first collection for Dior won the Dé d’Or.

~ 22 ~

Gianfranco Ferre

Campaign: Gianfranco Ferre fall,1986.

Fashion Icons Monica Bellucci • Monica Anna Maria Bellucci, born in 1964, in Cita di Castello • She used to pursue her career in the legal profession, in the University of Perugia and modeled on the side to earn money.

• In 1988, she moved to Milan and joined an elite model management and become a successful model and also a very famous fashion style icon in Italy.

Monica Belluccis

~ 23 ~

Sophia Loren

• Sophia Sciolone, born in 1934 • At age 14 she entered a beauty pageant where she meets her producer Carlo Ponti and became a famous actress since then • In the 1980s, she ventured into the other side of the business and launch her first fragrance and designed her eyewear line.

• In 1982, she voluntarily spent 19 days in the jails for tax invasion.

Sophia Loren

Donatella Versace • Born in 1955 • Italian fashion designer, the sibling of the famous Gianni Versace • In 1980, Gianni Versace launched a perfume called “ Blonde” Dedicated to her sister Donatella.

• After the death of the brother, Donatella is the next in line for all the Versace company aspects.

• Very much a style icon in the 80’s since she is the model of her own brand which is very popular Versace.

Donatella Versace

~ 24 ~

Movie: Fellini the city of women, 1980.

Enternaiment

Movies City of Women: (Italian: La Città Delle Donne) is a 1980 Italian fantasy comedy-drama film written and directed by Federico Fellini. Amid Fellini’s characteristic combination of dreamlike, outrageous, and artistic imagery, Marcello Mastroianni plays Snàporaz, a man who voyages through male and female spaces toward a confrontation with his own attitudes toward women and his wife.

Movie: Cinema paradiso , 1988 Cinema Paradiso: • Cinema Paradiso (Italian: Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, Italian pronunciation,(”New Paradise Cinema”) is a 1988 Italian drama film written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. The film stars Jacques Perrin, Philippe Noiret, Leopoldo Trieste, Marco Leonardi, Agnese Nano and Salvatore Cascio, and was produced by Franco Cristaldi and Giovanna Romagnoli, while the music score was composed by Ennio Morricone along with his son, Andrea. It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 62nd Academy Awards.

~ 26 ~

Music • Ricchi e Poveri, 1980: Formed in 1967 by Franco Gatti , Angela Brambati, Angelo Sotgio and Maria Occhiena. Their most popular songs was in the 1980s, Mamma Maria and Se m’innamoro.

• Jovanotti, 1980: Lorenzo Cherubini was born in 1966, rapper and Italian singer-songwriter. his music started to active from 1988.

• Al bano and Romina Power,1980: Pop Italian duo music, Formed in 1975. They were highly successful in Italy and mainland Europe throughout the 1980s and the early 90s.

• Black box, 1980: Black Box is an Italian house music group popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The members of the group included a trio made up of a club DJ, a classically trained clarinet teacher, and a keyboard and electronic music “wiz”.

• Fun Fun, 1983: Fun Fun were a popular Italian Italo disco musical group during the 1980s. Their hits included “Colour My Love” and “Baila Bolero”.

• Baby’s Gang, “Happy Song”1983: Was an Italian musical project, best known for their 1983 hit single “Happy Song” • Novecento, 1984: Was an Italian band founded by Pino Nicolosi, Lino Nicolosi, Rossana Nicolosi, and Dora Carofiglio. Their music has gone through a variety of genres, such as Italo disco, synthpop, soft rock, pop rock, jazz, and funk.

Al bano and Romina Power

Novecento

Baby’s Gang

~ 27 ~

Jovanotti

Fun Fun

Memphis furniture designed by Ettone Sottsass

Architecture and Design

Memphis • The Memphis Group was an Italian design and architecture group founded

by Ettore Sottsass in 1980 that designed Postmodern furniture, fabrics, ceramics, glass, and metal objects.

• In 1980, Ettore Sotssas set up a meeting with all designers to form a design collaborative named MEMPHIS. • They drew inspiration from such movements as Art Deco and Pop Art, including styles such as the 1950s Kitsch and futuristic themes.

Ettone Sottsass

Ettone Sottsass

• Born in 1917, in the mountain of Innsbruck, Austria. Son of an Italian father.

• Grew up in Turim where he also studied architecture.

• His most popular architectural art was “MEMPHIS” in the 1980s, a design collective that he spearheaded and remains as one of his most well-known achievements • Very industrial designer, also a painter, writer, and a photographer, people called him the renaissance man.

Vico Magistrati • Born in 1920 • Italian industrial designer, known as furniture designer and architect.

• His early work was the “ poetic” round church in the experimental area of Milan neighborhood QT8.

• Designed mass-produced appliances and furniture for big companies.

• Has taught 20 years of his life at the royal college of arts and nominated as a royal designer.

• Won the gold medal of the “ Chartered Society of industrial artist and designers” in 1986.

Vico Magistrati

Carimate chair: His first great success

Gae Aulenti • Born in 1927 in Palazzo Dello Stella, Italy • A very prolific architect • Her work spans industrial, stage design, furniture, graphic, exhibition designs, lighting, and interior design.

• Aulenti is the first few women who design in the postwar period.

• Her avant-garde style bloomed into an entirely new type of Italian architectural, very imaginative and creative, leaving the standardization to the past.

• In 1981, she was chosen to turn the 1900 Beaux Arts Gare d’Orsay into a train station.

Gae Aulenti

New structure in Musée D’Orsay, 1986.

Conclusions • •The 80s is a time of fun, excess, luxury and optimism.

• •People in this were more open to expressing themselves in every way of their own version.

• •This time was also very influenced and inspired by the future and technologies.

• • The economical influenced much on the consumption in the fashion industry and the Italian designers get the credit by being popular globally.

• • The art movement in Italy in this period was the “Transvangardia” and this movement was the Italian version of Neo-expressionism. The main characteristics were: The comeback of the figurative style, the emphasis of the human figures and the presence of strong colors.

• • The literature in the ’80s was influenced by science fiction, the works explore the characteristics of society and expose them in an exaggerated situation.

• • One of the most famous Italian book in this period was the Name of the Rose written by Umberto Eco. Besides the popularity, this book hasn’t the science fiction as a theme.

• • Fashion in Italy has been a very important part of the culture and in the Italians are well-known by the “La Bella Figura”, an elegant way to dress. In this decade the Italian fashion becomes more simple and more into RTW. • In the architecture, the trendy style is the Memphis, because of the collaboration of the architects in the time.

Sources: • https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/american-gigolo-paul-schrader-armani-suits • h ttps://www.wmagazine.com/story/ettore-sottsass-memphis-designmet-breuer-exhibit • https://www.admagazine.fr/design/portraits/diaporama/gae-aulenti-la-surdouee/52173 • https://www.moma.org/artists/1323 • http://www.artnet.com/artists/enzo-cucchi/ • http://www.casamasaccio.it/en/entro-dipinta-gabbia/ • https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2014/01/30/la-svolta-degli-anni-80-tra-pittura.html?refresh_ce • http://www.artnet.com/artists/francesco-clemente/ • http://www.francescoclemente.net/1980s/1.html • http://www.artnet.com/artists/nicola-de-maria/ • https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/435/courageous-boys-work • https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-the-most-iconic-artists-ofthe-1980s • http://m.graffitiart.it/italia.cfm • http://obviousmag.org/archives/2008/11/a_critica_de_arte_seus_ temas_diletos_e_a_descobert.html • h t t p s : / / w w w. h u n g e r t v. c o m / f e a t u r e / e xc l u s i v e - o l i v i e r o - t o s cani-on-the-art-of-controversy-and-80s-nostalgia/ • https://www.artribune.com/attualita/2012/01/anni-ottanta-rifacciamo-i-conti/\ • https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/art-books-music/g5386/10iconic-photos-by-herb-ritts/ • http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/08/13/oliviero.toscani/index.html • http://storiaefuturo.eu/fashion-il-settimanale-della-moda-italiana-storia-del-periodico-e-della-sua-influenza-nel-fashion-trade/

Sources: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

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