This graffito, which is located in Naples, represents a stylized representation of Dante Alighieri. At the top left corner of the work, the phrase “fatti non fumo” (facts not smoke) is included — this could relate to the famous line “fatti non foste a viver come bruti, / ma per seguir virtute e canoscenza” (Inf. 26.119-120: “you were not made to live your lives as brutes, / but to be followers of worth and knowledge”), which is spoken by Ulisse in the Eighth Circle of Hell. — ALDAM, Dante Graffiti, Via dei Tribunali, Napoli.
Mural project for wall of art school in Lazio, Italy, co-ordinated by Diego della Posta (Mr Thoms), graffiti artist
“Mr Thoms (Diego Della Posta) was invited to head a project to celebrate young people in Dante’s world, inspired by Dante’s reference in Vita Nova of ‘Gioventude, etate che puote giovare’ (Youth, ages that can benefit). The students, under Mr Thoms’ direction, created this stunning mural on the wall outside their school in the region of Frosinone, Lazio.”
Contributed by Emma Marigliano
See Diego Della Posta’s photos of the 2022 mural project (including the image above) on Bēhance.
Dante Caught Without a Mask: Street Art in Florence
“Fantastic this work, certainly dating back to the lockdown in March [2020] and unfortunately already in an advanced stage of deterioration. Protagonist Dante Alighieri, acknowledged father of Italian literature and language, author of the Divine Comedy, dressed as always in red and crowned with laurel. Arrested as caught without a mask by a policeman with an anti-Covid 19 mask (with an American uniform?) and by another figure in a spacesuit (an astronaut?), also with a mask! Live-size pictures. Many metaphors can be ventured! Florence, via delle Seggiole.” —Arte Leonardo blog, Leonardo da Vinci Art School
GAU Dante, 2021
“GAU-Gallerie d’arte Urbana è un progetto che ha come obiettivo quello di importare un modello di risanamento urbano che riesca, a ispirare bellezza e funzionalità, attraverso la street art, applicata ad un oggetto di uso quotidiano come le campane della raccolta differenziata del vetro. Il progetto ha come obiettivo principale quello di creare un galleria d’arte urbana gratuita, fruibile in ogni momento dal cittadino, per ribadire il concetto dell’arte come bene comune, incentivando l’attenzione sulle tematiche di differenziazione dei rifiuti.
“Per la sua quinta edizione, GAU sceglie di omaggiare Dante Alighieri nel settimo centenario della sua morte. Gli artisti lavoreranno sui 34 canti dell’Inferno, attualizzandoli attraverso la peculiarità del proprio linguaggio artistico, reinterpretando simboli, luoghi e personaggi della Divina Commedia in chiave contemporanea.
“Moby Dick – Giusy Guerriero – Dez – Marta Quercioli – Zara Kiafar – Tito – Violetta Carpino – Kiddo – DesX – Yest – Er Pinto – Olives – Lola Poleggi – Kenji – BloodPurple – Orgh – Lady Nina – Teddy Killer – Valerio Paolucci – Wuarky – Karma Factory – Muges147 – Maudit – Hoek – Alessandra Carloni – Cipstrega – Molecole – Korvo – Alekos Reize – Gojo.” —Gallerie d’Arte Urbana
See a gallery of all 34 decorated recycling bins, one for each canto of the Inferno, on the GAU website. You can also download the magazine on the site, which includes a map where visitors to Rome can locate each bin.
The image above features Korvo’s design for cantos 30-31. Photo credit Valentino Bonacquisti.
Sergio Ucedo’s #Dante2018 Artwork
Sergio Ucedo is an Argentine illustrator and graffiti artist. Ucedo created a number of striking art pieces during the #Dante2018 social media movement, such as the above piece promoting the hashtag. Ucedo also created the artwork below, which was featured in an article about #Dante2018 on Perfil.
To check out more of Ucedo’s artwork, you can follow him on Instagram and Twitter, and also visit his blog.
You can read the Perfil article that featured Ucedo’s artwork here.
See other posts related to #Dante2018 here.
Contributed by Pablo Maurette (Florida State University)