Actions become artistic works

“Riso amaro” was an odd exhibition since it literally immersed the viewer in the many "moving actions" that concerned only one of the aspects of Iginio De Luca research, his blitzes. The entire space of AlbumArte was filled with works that represented all evidence of those incursions - actions and the exhibition was composed of speakers, monitors, photos and objects that made the visitor part of these public unauthorized and unexpected actions, therefore realized without a real audience, which had taken place over a period of about ten years.

Iginio De Luca’s blitzes are always linked to real and current facts, and rooted in a specific context, in which he comes to perform an action that involves both the imagination and practice of an artist and the civic awareness of a conscientious citizen. They are socio-political artistic actions, with an ethical background, always ironic and shrouded by a certain bitterness. The latter does not depend on him, but on the facts that he evokes. Actions are carried out with an intelligent irony dictated by indignation and, as we know how, for many the ability to be outraged and react is often one of the most reliable ethical behaviors of a citizen or a conscious intellectual.

Blending ethics and aesthetics, technology and behavioral actions, Iginio claims back the interaction with the environment and the public, denouncing, between irony and commitment, the crisis of values of our time. The megaphone is always present in its blitzes; here the exit hole of the voice is shield with a mirror. Thus the fetish-object becomes a work that "reflect" in the double sense of thought and action.

Originating from topics related to political, social and cultural current affairs, these actions, that are narrated in the exhibition in numerous videos (one for each blitz), depict with a lucid and coherent vision the history of the last decade of our country, showing that much of what the artist said and shouted in the performances has remained unchanged even today.

As in most of the historical tradition, the performer, always looking for a link with the other, remains alone; and in the case of the Blitzes what shines through, having the possibility to live them all again, is the extreme solitude that accompanies the artist. Even in the lightest and most fun actions, a more subtle statement is evident, that requires you to go beyond the gesture that causes empathy. In one of the many pre-election periods, Iginio put up posters all around the city inviting people to vote for artists (here one of these is on display, attached to the wall of the space with the same glue used on the street).

The act of decoding the spider web that the artist has composed, building tightrope balances between signs of a different nature, is the public's task, who is encouraged to actively participate by a question that cannot be avoided. (In the photo the video of an aerial bliz.)

It is the artist's way of interpreting facts, his form of observing reality that becomes protest, not deafening, but with a subtle, evident, synthetic form that says a lot. Blitzes are one of the most interesting parts of De Luca’s research, that arise spontaneously and with the urgency to denounce and define, after a long reflection on the facts, expressing his point of view effectively and punctually.

On display, the testimony of "Lavami" blitz (2010). The site of the action was the dome of San Pietro, the universal symbol of the Catholic Church. To understand this, like all De Luca's blitzes, we need to consider the events that occured, which then form the context in which the artist positions his action. At the time of the Lavami blitz, the then Pope Benedict XVI tried to take a stand against the complaints of pedophilia towards Catholic priests. The projection of this writing was realized by the artist directly on the dome with an uncertain trait, like the one that can be found on the glass of a dirty car. The writing here has been turned into a neon.

In his blitzes, De Luca uses various artistic media, as the videos and sound installations realized on the facade of a “young” Roman museum perpetually lacking its director or the flock with its shepherd on the facade of the Italian parliament. Or retouched banners attached to an airplane (mobile installation), statuettes of the Madonna crying (sculptures) or painting realized on commercial products (painting) to denounce their lumbering presence.