On the evening of October 22, Gianni Dessì gave a public lecture at the Cornell in Rome Palazzo Lecture Hall. Dessì studied art at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma and received a degree in scenography. His work spans a variety of mediums, but he has always maintained a close relationship with theater. Some of his pieces have even been shown at the Venice Biennale (1984, 1986 1993) and at the Quadriennale di Roma (1986, 1996). Dessì’s artnet profile can be found here.
Dessì began his lecture by emphasizing the time and culture in which he was born, and he explained how this context propelled him to become the artist that he is now. He stated, clearly and confidently, that he was “born in the middle of the last century.” After asking us how old we all were, he proceeded to recollect his world at the age of 20 – it would be three years before he would hold his first solo exhibition.
Dessì’s work has transformed quite a bit over the years, and he passionately narrated how he developed as an artist and grew to produce the works he currently does.
|
|
|
Dessì also spoke intently about individual pieces. He described how they were sited in gallery spaces, the process through which they were constructed, and what propelled him to create each work. He had a way of describing each work modestly and simply, and I appreciated his effort in doing so, for it allowed us to gather our own interpretations of his art.
|
|
|
Dessì’s words and images generated a lot of discussion during our drawing course, and although we could not see his works in person, his descriptions were quite vivid and memorable. With an artistic background in theater and scenography, he concluded this lecture of his development as an artist with a simple and very inspirational line: “That was my part in the comedy.“