Common Ground: An Exploration of Contemporary Art through a Renaissance Lens
A Series of Online/In-Person talks presented by Prof Bette Talvacchia, PhD
January 28 – February 6, 2025
Must history be displaced by current culture? When it comes to the discourse around contemporary art, many critics, scholars, and institutions are now enforcing an unwritten law that endorses this code, banishing the art of the past from cutting-edge publications, university curricula, and exhibitions. However, the strategy of cancellation is disputed by a copious number of the most exciting and innovative artists who worked during the 20th century, as well as those whose art is making a major impact today.
The series of four talks entitled Common Ground will be anchored by the formal experimentation and iconographic precepts of Renaissance art, broadly understood as developing from the 14th through the early 17th centuries, and will be chosen from both the Northern and the Italian traditions. Modern works will then be introduced and examined to see how new, vibrant meanings have been created through the use of Renaissance models, materials, and strategies.
In addition to offering a wide-ranging panorama of modern/contemporary art, the comparisons that form the core of the discussions aim to suggest the sort of links that bind works of art together across time, enriching their expressive potential in both directions. The desired outcome is to promote a less fragmented perception of the history of art, and enhance interpretive skills that will encourage the viewer to engage with less familiar art in a more informed way. The investigation of historical art will reveal itself to be one of the many conduits for grasping the meaning of a contemporary work; at the same time, striving to follow the logic of a new creation may allow for an expanded appreciation of the Renaissance source that serves as a reference. Knowledge of the visual systems of the past can provide an enhanced and more complex viewing experience of today’s art.
The talks will be organized around four categories, with each session dedicated to a single avenue of exploration, seen in the works of a broad range of artists. The presentations will explore comparisons of Renaissance, Modern, and Contemporary art under the rubrics of:
- Incorporation (Jan. 28)
- Continuation (Jan. 30)
- Variation (Feb. 4)
- Transformation (Feb. 6)
The material has been selected to provide conceptual tools that will aid the participants to explore both historical and contemporary art from expanded points of view. The presentations will include the work of such 20th and 21st-century artists as: Joseph Cornell, Barkley Hendricks, Joyce Kozloff, Jacob Lawrence, Paula Rego, Faith Ringgold, Tshabalala Self, Nancy Spero, Kehinde Wiley, and Bill Viola.
To register for in-person attendance at the NIKI in Viale Evangelista Torricelli 5 in Florence, please click here.
Please click on the talks to register for online attendance via Teams.
