Eataly’s Birreria, New York City
Photo contributed by Steve Bartus (Bowdoin, ’08)
Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture
Eataly’s Birreria, New York City
Photo contributed by Steve Bartus (Bowdoin, ’08)
“Inizia l’11 luglio a Follonica uno degli eventi culturali più grave importanti dell’estate maremmana: ‘Ossessione Dalì’ il titolo della mostra che quest’anno si inserisce nella tradizione delle esposizioni itineranti di arte contemporanea del territorio grossetano.
‘Il fil rouge dell’esposizione sarà la Divina Commedia di Dante Alighieri, riletta dal maestro spagnolo attraverso cento tavole, realizzante per lo più in acquarello. Si tratta di trentatré trittici, ognuno dei quali è composto da tre tavole riferite rispettivamente al Paradiso, al Purgatorio e all’Inferno danteschi. Diversamente da quanto realizzato da altri pittori, Dalì non si limita ad illustrare i canti, ma li interpreta, trasformando i contenuti concettuali danteschi in avvenimenti visibili, senza tuttavia rinunciare al proprio approccio surrealista.
La Commedia del poeta toscano si presta così a regalare un vero e proprio excursus nell’arte di Dalì, che, nei 10 anni impiegati a completare l’opera, esprime nelle xilografie una miriade di linguaggi espressivi diversi: dalle allucinazioni degli anni Trenta al misticismo, dal metodo paranoico-critico alla poetica del molle, fino ad arrivare a riferimenti classici di alcuni dei suoi maestri ideali. La mostra proseguirà dopo Follonica a Castell’Azzara (26 agosto-18 settembre) e a Porto Santo Stefano (25 settembre-30 ottobre). Ogni sede espositiva organizza attività ludico-didattiche per bambini.” –Alessandra Bartali, Corriere Fiorentino, July 7, 2011
“Dante Shorts” by BB Dakota, Shopbop
“. . .Is there a better place for expression than art? Whether releasing anger, oozing sexuality or spilling sorrow via an artistic means or simply ingesting someone else’s version of it and laughing uproariously, a creative outlet is our healthy friend. As I sat in my Dante’s Inferno class less than 24 hours after seeing Horrible Bosses, I couldn’t help but laugh at how Dante, too, was doing just that in the 1300s–using his poetry gift to banish real people to eternal punishment in “the hurricane of Hell in perpetual motion.”
Dante doesn’t just send people to one big place called Hell, he parses according to the level of sin, whether or not they wronged him personally, and even singles some of them out for an extra dose of suffering. That it is methodical and medieval makes it all the more riveting.
The rest of us wind up rooting, projecting our own frustrations and ill will onto characters in a book or on screen. We rub our hands together and lick our chops at seeing where people eventually ‘go’ or how they’ll be categorized. In Horrible Bosses, there are sins of greed and carnal yearnings by the one-dimensional bosses, intent to murder by the average-guy employees and even an in-between — the hit man played by Jamie Foxx who steals but isn’t what he portrays himself to be.” [. . .] –Nancy Colasurdo, Fox Business, July 6, 2011
“Lyn White is the slender, blonde, former South Australian police senior constable who, armed with a hand-held video camera, descended into the depravity of Indonesia’s most hellish abattoirs. Her footage invoking all the blood, wailing, and terror of Dante’s Inferno as Australian cattle were tortured and brutalised before slaughter was broadcast on Four Corners last month and has caused a backlash against Australia’s live export trade so quick and so vehement that the Government has suspended the trade to Indonesia.” [. . .] –Emma Macdonald, The Canberra Times, July 2, 2010 (retrieved on July 7, 2011)
All submissions will be considered for posting. Bibliographic references and scholarly essays are also welcome for consideration.
Coggeshall, Elizabeth, and Arielle Saiber, eds. Dante Today: Citings and Sightings of Dante’s Works in Contemporary Culture. Website. Access date.