Visioni contemporanee. Mitologie collettive tra Arte, Moda e Fotografia

Contemporary Visions tackles, from the point of view of the connections among art, fashion and photography, three important themes of the development of contemporary visual culture – beauty, gender identity and fiction- which are connected the great mythologies that occupy the collective imaginary. The myth is something we all accept and recognize as such, sometimes without even knowing why it occupies our imaginary. Between myth and photography there is a profound symbiotic relationship since both have the power to persuade us of their truth, as something that has always belonged to our memory. Despite of the de-idealization promoted by the art of the Avant-Garde, today’s society “still has many mythologies worthy of careful investigation”. Scientific and technological development and the growing diffusion of advertising, movie and photography have produced a sort of re-enchantment of collective life. In its close relationship with mass culture, the Art interprets, consolidates and breaks the mythical ideas that occupy our imaginary. In the age of technical reproduction, with the fall of what Walter Benjamin has famously described as “aura” of artwork, many contemporary artists put us in front of important examples of a deep connection of the dichotomy art-business. The “commercial” aspect blends so closely with the artistic quality, that is a serious research work that attempts to reflect on the most controversial themes of our society and to provide answers to the needs of the reality to which it belongs, that appears unnecessary and counterproductive attempt to define clear boundaries. In these cases, the fusion between art and social reality, traditional heritage of the Avant-Garde, is total.