Vincent Tangredi : Recent Works

In a reprinted text, Bentley Mays considers the allegorical dimension of Tangredi's installation, based on the life of St. Francis of Assisi. Biographical notes

Notes on Critical Practice: A Reply to Jean Mallinson

A vigorous response to Jean Mallinson's article "Ideology and Poetry: And Examination of Some Recent Trends in Canadian Criticism.

The Radiant Child

The point of departure for this essay is a chapter by Laura Malvano, published in English, French and Italian, about the imaginative representation of childhood and youth in Italian fascist propaganda and cultural discourse. Malvano’s article opens the way to a reading of fascist consciousness as one informed by modern Western culture’s fascination with the child and the “primitive” and offers a suggestive analysis that untangles and explicates the energies circulating in Italy’s art and publishing worlds during the 1920s and 1930s. What could be revealed about more recent developments in art and politics by turning Malvano’s strategy upon them? Mays proposes a look from her perspective at the renaissance of cultural primitivism in New York during the dawn of Reagan-era neoliberalism, especially as illustrated by the spectacular career of the “urban savage” painter Jean-Michel Basquiat.Cet article s’inspire d’un long essai de Laura Malvano — traduit en anglais peu après sa parution en français et en italien — sur le mythe de la jeunesse dans la propagande fasciste italienne. L’auteur voit dans l’engouement du fascisme des années 1920 pour les jeunes en tant que réservoir d’énergie « primitive », l’avatar d’un phénomène récurrent mais qui revêt à chaque époque des traits spécifiques. C’est ainsi que dans les premières années de l’ère Reagan la rhétorique de la jeunesse et du primitif a été employée par les critiques d’art « branchés » de la côte est américaine pour « fabriquer » — et du même coup vendre aux yuppies néolibéraux — le culte (et les œuvres) d’un jeune « sauvage urbain », le peintre Jean-Michel Basquiat.Il punto di partenza del contributo è un’analisi della traduzione inglese di un lungo saggio di Laura Malvano che era uscito simultaneamente in francese e in italiano. Il saggio verte sulle rappresentazioni della giovinezza nell’immaginario della propaganda fascista. L’autore vede nella esaltazione da parte del primo fascismo dei giovani come riserva di energia «primitiva» una variante di un fenomeno ricorrente nel mondo occidentale, dall’illuminismo in poi, anche se in forme specifiche a seconda delle epoche. Così, ad esempio, nei primi anni dell’era Reagan, une retorica della giovinezza e del primitivo è stata utilizzata dai critici d’arte «alla moda» della costa est degli Stati Uniti per «fabbricare» — e quindi vendere ai yuppies neo-liberali — il culto (e le produzioni artistiche) di un giovane «selvaggio urbano», il pittore Jean-Michel Basquiat

Noel Harding : Two Installations : "Once Upon the Idea of Two", "Scenic Events on a Path of Upheaval"

Two reprinted texts provide discussions of Harding's installations created in 1978 and 1980. Biographical notes

A Book of Not Knowing When We Are Going to Die or Grow Up and of Only Knowing a Little Bit

Functioning both as a bookwork and as documentation of MacKay's artworks (bookworks, audiotapes, and filmed performance), this bound book includes Bogusky's and Mays' comments, followed by 300 blank pages