Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Art, Fashion & Design >

"Futurist Skies": Springtime for Mussolini in Islington

Less searchable M0rd4nt

11:52 / 05.01.05

Museum displays war-era fascist propaganda art...

...whilst failing to mention to mention the war, or, y'know, fascism.

I'm not saying that because a work is created under an odious regime by an artist with odious beliefs, that work can by definition have no artistic merit. However, it's surely unacceptable to display this kind of work--especially given that it is fascist propaganda--without commenting on the history and politics surrounding it. Or am I being awfully PC? Should we just lie back and look at the pretty aeroplanes?

(Oh, and this exhibition apparently has the support of the Berlusconi government, which chills me right to the fucking bone.)

14:13 / 05.01.05

Am I being awfully PC ?

I don't think so, no. On the one hand, the gallery concerned's apparently just " a small, private museum " so they can show what they want I suppose, but on the other, to present this stuff in a manner so entirely divorced from it's proper historical context, ie, as part of an *art* movement which had no apparent links to times it grew out of, just seems, at best, like poor curatorship, or alternatively, a fairly obvious way of racking up some free publicity.

Then again, if this was the only load of cheap, shitty spin the Berlusconi government was currently involved with on UK soil, I could probably live with it, y'know ?

14:42 / 05.01.05

dude in the paper freaks a bit though dunny? the pilots of the 9/11 planes are the most influential people to have lived in our lifetimes - their ultimate perspective should be 'buried and forgotten for all eternity'? only, i think, if we want to continue to allow them their puissance. surprised the writer didn't give himself a bloody nose with that jerking knee. can't help but think his revulsion could benefit from being unpacked, but he seems unwilling to do so. a painting by a fascist = a fascist painting seems a bit simple to me, but then, he's only an art reviewer.

14:45 / 05.01.05

berlusconi though - he's like the ultimate C21st politician, publicly saying it is the duty of the rich and powerful to have plastic surgery - to be less attractive than you can afford is apparently a mark of disrespect. what a nutbar. i'm grateful for the peak into his (administration's) mind that the exhibition affords.

15:00 / 05.01.05

The Hayward Gallery had a whole exhibition of Fascist art about ten years ago, called Art & Power. I thought it was very worthwhile -- they had art and design work from Italy, Germany and Russia (which was Communist but might as well have been fascist considering the general attitude towards people) and it was interesting to see how many parallels and crossovers there were.

I've seen some examples of the works in that exhibition, and from a simple design perspective, I was kind of interested in going.

At least that way I can make up my mind for myself...

16:20 / 05.01.05

At least that way I can make up my own mind...

Well I agree that " buried and forgotten in the dustbin of history " is probably an overreaction, but at the same time, to try and present art with a background in totalitarian propaganda from a purely aesthetic point of view ( which it sounds like the Haywards exhibition was explicity in the business of not doing, ) seems disingenous to say the least, as well as dangerously close to the old 'Nazi uniform as ultimate fashion statement' argument, always unhelpful, I think, unless you're prepared to acknowledge what the uniform was actually for.

But you're right, you're right, I suppose it's best seen in person - it's not just art shows that deal in distortions, after all.

07:35 / 06.01.05

It's a tricky proposition, and I agree that the gallery should be foregrounding the context of the works, but then it sounds like most people are pretty aware of it. If I was in London I would be tempted to go because I really like that style of painting, but the Hayward show sounds like it was a lot better.

I also wonder to what degree something is propaganda if it's not produced/sanctioned, etc. by the govt/power it's meant to be promoting. Futurism was around since before WWI and Marrinetti for instance was spouting all this stuff then, so to throw out all his work as fascist propaganda doesn't seem entirely accurate. He was praising war back in the days when Italy was on the side of the Allies after all.

16:32 / 06.01.05

i have mixed feelings about this. i think Jones goes hysterically overboard in his dismissal of post-1914 Futurism, and i'm less than inclined to accept his implicit assertion that politics should trump everything else in terms of the evaluation of art. does whatever anyone might think of the work of any given artist have to go straight out the window at the first hint that they were associated with fascism?

also, certain points of his seem overly doctrinaire: "But that was before 1914, before the trenches, before aerial warfare - before modernity turned sour... the enthusiasm for flight shared by modern painters like Roger de la Fresnay in his Conquest of the Air (1913; actually a portrait of balloonists) vanished after the first world war. In dada and surrealist art, flight is deathly." basically, he seems to be taking the position that after 1914 you're just plain not allowed to have any sort of enthusiasm for planes, technology, or modernity as a whole. techno-pessimism is apparently a mandate for everyone after WW I. that seems a bit overbroad and overdone.

all that said, it's clear that the gallery is intentionally trying to obscure the relationship between Futurism and fascism in a way that represents poor scholarship and criticism at the very least, and of course implies much more once you factor in the shadowy hand of Berlusconi in this. definitely has creepy overtones and it's important to look at this work in a highly critical fashion - i just don't think the puritanical approach ("this is BAD! naughty, NAUGHTY art! shame! SHAME!") is appropriate, productive or necessary.

personally, i find the Futurists fascinating, and i think that understanding and appreciating their work is key to understanding the cultural mindset of the times.

01:57 / 15.01.05

I think it's a pretty stupid overreaction (Salvador Dali was an open Fascist and nobody complains about his exhibits) Despite it's asociations with Mussolini, Aeropittura is still a facinating form of art.

The entire point of Futurism anyways is glorification of war. It should also be mentioned that Tullio Crali, the man who defined aeropainting, continued painting into the 1980's, long after the demise of Mussolini and Fascism

02:04 / 15.01.05

And I really don't see how having this on the webpage for the exhibit is "obscuring the relationship between futurism and fascism"

"In time, aeropainting was transformed into a propaganda machine for the Fascist regime, celebrating its military aspirations and adventures. In the process, it lost something of the spirit of enquiry and sense of wonder that pervades the work in this exhibition"