ARTIST PORTRAITS ON TV
Program:
6.00 PM Introduction by Cristiana Perrella
6.30 PM first part
8.15 PM second part
10.00 PM third part
Art has appeared in Rai programming from its very first day of broadcasting on January 3, 1954. But a great deal of time would have to pass before the potential and expressive characteristics of this new medium would become clear, leading to the development of programmes that were not akin to illustrated lectures. In the 1970s, the time came for a new way of talking about art when Rai, driven by a strong push for innovation, experimentation, and critical sensibility, broke free from its pedagogical approach. Thus, new programmes were created with the understanding that popularization could be paired with a new language that would enable the audience to experience art first-hand: De Chirico, Burri, or Guttuso, filmed while working in their studios by Franco Simongini; a day in the public and private life of Eugenio Carmi in Genova; Vincenzo Agnetti, in a sort of lesson/performance in which he explains his participation in the 1976 Venice Biennale; or Boetti, who, in Nothing to See, Nothing to Hide, directed by Emidio Greco, reveals the magical precision of his mind to the camera without speaking a word. These programmes render the artists not merely subjects to be interpreted, but public figures who speak about themselves, and they recognize the programmes’ public role, educating about art in a way that is not pedantic, but rather inspired.
Complete program:
6.00 PM Introdution by Cristiana Perrella (“TV 70” associate curator)
6.30 PM ARTIST PORTRAITS ON TV – first part
Incontri – Un’ora con Eugenio Carmi (Encounters – An Hour with Eugenio Carmi)
1973
directed by Enzo Tarquini
Alberto Burri. L’avventura della ricerca (Alberto Burri: The Adventure of Artistic Enquiry)
1974
written and directed by Franco Simongini
8.15 PM ARTIST PORTRAITS ON TV – second part
Come nasce un’opera d’arte – Giorgio de Chirico “Il sole sul cavalletto”
(How A Work of Art is Born – Giorgio de Chirico: “Sun on the Easel”)
1975
written and directed by Franco Simongini
Come nasce un’opera d’arte – Renato Guttuso “Natura morta”
(How A Work of Art is Born – Renato Guttuso: “Still Life”)
1975
written and directed by Franco Simongini
Vincenzo Agnetti: Elisabetta d’Inghilterra in Rete Uno alla Biennale di Venezia. Biennale rosa. (Vincenzo Agnetti: Queen Elizabeth on Rete Uno at the Venice Biennale. The Pink Biennial. Episode 5)
1976
written by Alfredo Di Laura
Vidikon (Rubrica di arti figurative) – Artista in studio: Mario Merz
(Vidikon (Figurative Arts Feature Programme) – An Artist in the Studio: Mario Merz)
1979
written and directed by Anna Zanoli
Vidikon (Rubrica di arti figurative) – Artista in studio: Michelangelo Pistoletto
(Vidikon (Figurative Arts Feature Programme) – An Artist in the Studio: Michelangelo Pistoletto)
1979
written and directed by Anna Zanoli
10.00 PM ARTIST PORTRAITS ON TV – third part
Invito – Niente da vedere, niente da nascondere. Alighiero e Boetti
(Invitation – Nothing to See, Nothing to Hide: Alighiero and Boetti)
1979
directed by Emidio Greco